Gardner-Webb Falls To Jacksonville, 3-1, In A-Sun First Round
November 15, 2007 | Volleyball
MACON, Ga. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball program played tough throughout and narrowly dropped the first two games by identical 30-27 scores before winning the third game, 34-32. However, the Bulldogs could not complete the comeback bid, falling 30-17 in game four, ending their hopes for their first-ever A-Sun Tournament win.
The Bulldogs end their season at 14-18 while Jacksonville improves to 18-12.
Senior Ashley Pridgeon, the program's career leader in kills, posted 23 kills in 56 total attempts, for a match high. Pridgeon also sliced the defense for a team-high three service aces, running her career tally to 140.
Fellow senior Audra Harrison notched a team-best 22 digs, ending her career with a school-record 1,576. She also compiled six kills, two aces and two block assists in the match.
Fourth-year player Jackie Mathison, who missed much of the season due to an injury, tallied four kills and had a block assist in the contest. Mathison ends her career with the seventh-most blocks in school history.
Sophomore Regina Feagin had a double-double in the match, amassing 49 assists to go along with 16 digs.
Juniors Bethany Martin and Heidi Steinebrunner each totaled eight kills in the match to help the offense. Martin also assisted on four stuffs of Jacksonville shots.
Defensively, junior Katie Matykowski had 19 digs while Pridgeon
tallied 10.
Harrison and Carrie Long stuffed Kesley Clark's shot, giving the team its first lead of the match in game one at 6-5. The teams continued to battle as neither team gained an advantage larger than two points until JU took a 16-13 lead.
The Dolphins took a 29-21 advantage, but head coach Chris
Phillips' team would not give up. Long slammed home a shot before
Martin's tally pulled GWU within six at 29-23. Pridgeon killed
three of the next four balls to pull within two at 29-27, but
Melissa Merchant's kill closed out game one.
An attack error in game two by Merchant gave the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead. Pridgeon's kill gave GWU a two-point advantage, but the Dolphins scored the next five to take the lead for good. The Dolphins took a four-point lead at 23-19, but GWU pulled within one on a Sara Bendorf attack error at 23-22. However, GWU could get no closer as the designated home team extended its lead before finally winning 30-27.
The Bulldogs got some momentum beginning game three and took a four-point advantage at 16-12on an attack error by Aidan Yeager. However, Jacksonville battled back to regain the lead. The Dolphins took a 24-21 lead before the Bulldogs began to fight back. GWU stormed back to take a 26-25 lead, but JU tied the game. From there, Harrison notched back-to-back kills for a 28-26 advantage.
After the Dolphins tied the match at 29, the Bulldogs pulled ahead thanks to another kill by Harrison. JU fought back to tie the game again, but sophomore Jessica Clayton's kill gave GWU a 31-30 margin. The Dolphins totaled the next two points, but Pridgeon extended the game by forcing yet another tie at 32-32. Martin slammed home the next point for a 33-32 lead before Pridgeon finished the game with a service ace.
GWU took an early 3-1 lead off the momentum from the previous game, but JU stormed back with a 12-1 spurt for too large of a lead for the Bulldogs to get back in the contest.
The Dolphins essentially kept a 10-point lead for much of the game before winning 30-17.
The match not only ends the Bulldogs' play in the A-Sun, but it
also marks the end of the careers of Audra Harrison, Jackie
Mathison and Ashley Pridgeon, who helped the Bulldogs earn a spot
in the postseason for the first time in school history a year ago
before helping the program reach the A-Sun tournament this season.
All three had a tremendous impact on the program and helped turn it
around within their four years as being successful
student-athletes.
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