Bulldogs Take Bite Out Of Lady Bisons, Qualify For A-Sun Tournament With 3-0 Win
November 03, 2007 | Volleyball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb head coach Chris Phillips stressed coming together and playing as one team all year long, and her squad played arguably its best match all year Saturday afternoon, sweeping Lipscomb 3-0 (30-24, 30-28, 30-24) in its final home match of the season.
Entering today's match, the Bulldogs either had to win or have UNF knock off Stetson in order to clinch the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament. The win over Lipscomb proved to be the difference maker as the Hatters pulled off a 3-2 come-from-behind victory at UNF Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs improve to 14-16 on the year and 5-6 in Atlantic Sun Conference play. The Lady Bisons fall to 16-11 on the year and 7-4 in conference competition.
All nine student-athletes that got into the match made solid contributions to help win the match. Offensively, senior Ashley Pridgeon's 15 kills led the squad. Freshman Carrie Long had 10 kills while senior Audra Harrison and junior Bethany Martin each chipped in seven.
Sophomore Regina Feagin tallied 35 assists in the match and posted a team-best 22 digs. Pridgeon notched 21 digs while Harrison and junior Katie Matykowski had 18 and 17, respectively.
As good as the Bulldogs were once the ball was played onto their side of the court, it was the blocking efforts across the front-line that really set the tone for the match.
Two weeks ago, Lipscomb's Sarah Snider was named A-Sun Player of the Week after a 51-kill week, including a 37-kill performance to establish a new league mark.
GWU dialed in on Snider after Alex Scruggs was injured in the first game. The Bulldogs accounted for 14 total blocks – two of which were solo stuffs to go along with 24 block assists.
Long accounted for a career high nine block assists. Martin also established a career high with seven block assists. The nine total blocks are the third most in school history for a single match. Senior Jackie Mathison tied a career high by swatting seven shots, two of which were of the solo variety. Mathison set her career high last night in the loss to Belmont. She also moved into a tie for seventh place on the GWU all-time total blocks list, surpassing both Bethany Trouville and Laura King in today's match.
The Bulldogs netted the first point of the match when Scruggs recorded an attack error. The visitors tied the match at one, and once again at 2-2. From there, GWU used a 4-0 run to get some breathing room. With the score 6-3, the Lady Bisons knocked a ball into the Bulldogs' side of the court. After a bad pass was made toward the GWU bench, Long raced over, and was able to get her arm on it as she was diving toward press row and landed it right in the middle of all six Lipscomb players for a 7-3 advantage.
From that point on, the GWU players felt like they were in control of the game and it showed. The Bulldogs extended their lead to eight, 13-5, on a kill by Harrison. Lipscomb attempted to get momentum back on its side and cut the deficit to three at 16-13 on a miscue by Long. However, the resilient GWU squad continued to pick apart the Lady Bisons offensively and baffled their offense with the tenacious play of the front line.
GWU once again widened its lead to eight at 25-17 on a kill from Martin. After a block by Mathison and Long gave the Bulldogs game point at 29-19, the Lady Bisons were able to tally a few late points, but Pridgeon slammed the door on the visitors in game one, 30-24.
In game two, GWU garnered a 2-0 lead behind an attack error from Lipscomb and an ace by Martin. However, the visitors tallied seven of the next eight points and for the first time in the match, the Bulldogs had to regroup and prove they were ready to play. And they did. Behind constantly diving for balls and keeping the play alive, GWU tied the contest at 10-10 on Pridgeon's kill.
Lipscomb regained the lead and held a 17-15 advantage on a kill by Snider. The Bulldogs tied it at 18-18, 20-20 and 22-22 only to see the Lady Bisons retake the lead after each tie. Trailing 25-23, Harrison brought the Red and Black within one at 25-24 with a kill. Snider's attack error tied the game. The next two balls that Lipscomb hit were sent directly back into its half of the court and hit the floor in thanks to the blocking duo of Long and Martin, giving the Bulldogs a 27-25 advantage.
Harrison notched a kill before Lipscomb tallied three straight to once again tie the game at 28-28. Long then stepped up and drove home a Feagin pass for a one-point lead before Jessica Turner's attack error gave GWU a 2-0 lead with the 30-28 game two victory.
Playing with as much confidence as it had since a 3-2 win against Davidson, the Bulldogs played loose in game three and it showed. With Harrison dropping back to serve, GWU netted the first three points of the game-clincher and kept the three-point margin through the first 17 points of the game.
Leading 10-7, the Bulldogs allowed Lipscomb to climb back into the game and tie it at 10-10. After the teams traded four points, Pridgeon tallied a kill, giving the Bulldogs the lead for good at 13-12. Then, Mathison stuffed Alex Kelly and an attack error by Snider put the Bulldogs up 15-12.
Snider's kill pulled the Lady Bisons within one at 16-15, but Mathison notched a kill for some more breathing room. GWU maintained a three-point lead until a kill by Katie Bradley pulled Lipscomb within two at 20-18. From there, Long had a kill and back-to-back attack errors by Jessica Enderle gave GWU a 23-18 lead. Heidi Steinebrunner and Martin combined to stuff Kelly's shot for a 24-18 advantage.
Up 25-20, Pridgeon's kill pushed the margin to six. A few plays later, an attack error by Long allowed Lipscomb to climb back to a five-point deficit. However, an error by Snider gave the Bulldogs the point right back. Steinebrunner's kill put the Bulldogs up 29-22.
The Lady Bisons tried to battle back, netting the next two points, putting the score at 29-24. Then, with the seats empty in the crowd because all the Bulldogs fans were on their feet, sensing one of the biggest victories in the program's history, Steinebrunner slammed the door shut on Lipscomb while opening the door to the A-Sun Tournament for the Bulldogs.
GWU ends its home slate in 2007 with an 8-5 mark, notching its second consecutive winning season at home.
The Bulldogs travel to nearby Winthrop on Tuesday, Nov. 6 for a
7 p.m. contest before a week off to prepare for the conference
tournament.
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