Mavericks take down Wildcats in three sets
ABILENE, Texas - In the first road trip of the year, the UT Arlington volleyball team (3-1) claimed the sweep (25-21, 25-11, 25-18) when they faced Abilene Christian (0-4) in Abilene, Texas on Tuesday night.
“To be able to come in here and take care of business like we did is a good sign of maturity for us,” said head coach Diane Seymour. “I think a win like this will help our confidence and will make it easier for us to play on the road.”
Freshman Qiana Canete led the Mavericks in kills as she recorded 12 kills, an attack percentage of .258 and 8 digs. Amanda Welsh notched 22 assists while Cassidy Wheeler chipped in 19 of her own.
UTA controlled the net as Ashley Bennett led the way with four blocks and Stacey Koch had three, helping the Mavs to 7 total blocks. Abilene Christian recorded just three team blocks.
After hitting .163 in the opening set of the match and committing eight attack errors, the Mavericks bounced back in the second and third sets, hitting .560 and .483 respectively. UTA also ended the match hitting .361 while ACU hit just .151.
After leading the Wildcats 16-15 in the first set, the Mavericks went on a 9-3 run that gave the first set to UTA 25-21.
The momentum from the opening set carried into the second set for UTA as they stormed out to a 7-3 lead that was capped off with a Taylor Gross kill off an Amanda Welsh set. ACU then attempted to make a run of their own as they closed the gap down to two points at 8-6, but the Mavs ruined any hope of a comeback as they finished the set on a 17-5 run.
The Wildcats seemed to have things figured out in the third set as they kept it close with UTA, but a 6-1 run highlighted by a Qiana Canete kill gave the Mavs a 21-16 lead. Canete then finished off the match for UT Arlington as her kill was the third straight point for the Mavericks as they ended the match.
UTA will return to action this Friday and Saturday when they take part in The Big Daddy’s Invitational in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Mountaineers Overcome Early Loss to Beat Bulldogs
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Appalachian State University volleyball defeated Gardner-Webb on Tuesday night after falling in the first set and coming back to win three-straight with scores of 19-25, 25-15, 28-26 and 25-22.
The Mountaineers (4-0, 0-0 SB) started out sluggish in the first set as the Runnin' Bulldogs (0-4, 0-0 Big South) immediately jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Gardner-Webb continued to find points, never letting Appalachian within more than three points until a kill from Jacqui Spurgeon made the score 16-14.
Gardner-Webb took a timeout and the Mountaineers would come back rattled, making four-straight errors and giving the Bulldogs a comfortable lead. App State would come within three points again, but Gardner-Webb recorded four-straight kills to take the first with a score of 25-19.
The Mountaineers came back for vengeance in the second, keeping a solid lead from the beginning with a score of 14-7. Appalachian continued to dominate, never letting the Runnin' Bulldogs within more than five points. Spurgeon killed three of the last four balls to help the Mountaineers to a 25-15 victory in the second set.
The third set was the battle of the match, featuring 10 tied scores. Appalachian took a 7-4 lead before Gardner-Webb tied the score at 10 off a Mountaineer attack error. The score would go back-and-forth as both teams struggled with attack errors.
With the score tied at 15, Lauren Gray found a kill, leading the Mountaineers to pull ahead by three points. The Bulldogs returned from a timeout to tie the score once again, making it 20-20. It would look as though Gardner-Webb would take the set, scoring four of the next five points to lead 24-21, one point away from victory, but the Mountaineers came storming back.
A kill from Gray and a huge service ace from Olivia Reed put the Apps within one point and an error on the Bulldogs tied the set. The game went into extra points but the Mountaineers were able to hold on, taking the third 28-26.
Appalachian showed no mercy in the fourth set, finding four kills in the beginning to lead 6-1. The Mountaineers tried to stay in charge but it wouldn't be long before the Runnin' Bulldogs tied the score at 10.
After three tied scores the Mountaineers finally began to pull away as Jess Keller found three kills to make the score 23-21. Gray closed out the set with two-straight kills as the Mountaineers won the fourth, 25-22 and took the match 4-1.
Emily Corrigan led the team in kills for the fourth-straight match, tallying 15 in the win, while also recording 12 digs. Gray notched 14 kills with a .423 hitting percentage, while Keller(12) and Spurgeon (11) added double-digit kills as well.
Paige Brown led the team in assists with a season-high of 44 in the victory. The Mountaineers had a fantastic defensive match as five players tallied digs in double-digits. Meghan Mahoney led with 17 and was followed by Brown (15) and Corrigan.
Reed recorded 11 digs in the victory and Olivia Loeffler notched 10 digs in her first collegiate appearance.
The Runnin' Bulldogs were led by Taylor Lillard's 12 kills and Anna Pashkova's 30 digs.
Neither team had a great offensive match as Appalachian recorded a .175 hitting percentage and Gardner-Webb hit .184 on the night. The Bulldogs killed the Mountaineers in team blocks, recording 13 as App State notched four.
The Mountaineers return to action this weekend when they travel to Louisville, Ky. to compete in the Louisvile Active Ankle Touranment on Fri. Sept. 5 and Sat. Sept. 6.