Bulldogs Drop Second Consecutive Five-Set Heartbreaker
October 10, 2008 | Volleyball
– After winning the first set, the Gardner-Webb volleyball team was unable to take a commanding 2-0 lead into the intermission and eventually fell to Big South Conference foe Charleston Southern 3-2 (28-26, 24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 11-15) Friday evening at the CSU Fieldhouse.
The Bulldogs fall to 4-15 on the season and 2-3 in conference
competition. The Lady Bucs improve to 13-9 on the year and 2-3 in
league play.
Rookie Laura Wilcox continued her spectacular play as of late,
breaking her career high that she set in Tuesday's loss at
Davidson, posting a team-high 20 kills. She also tied her career
high with four total blocks to go along with six assists. Senior
Heidi Steinebrunner notched 17 kills while senior Bethany Martin
chipped in seven.
Junior Regina Feagin dished out a team-best 50 assists en route to
a double-double after posting 10 digs. She also split the defense
with four aces. Freshman Tamia Herholz also had 10 digs (and two
aces) while fellow first-year student-athlete Evan Moffitt recorded
14. Senior Katie Matykowski tallied a team-high 16 digs to go along
with two aces. Moffitt and Feagin each amassed two block
assists.
CSU held the advantage in attack percentage, recording a .228
hitting percentage against .146 for GWU. The Lady Bucs also
controlled the defensive attack with 83 digs compared to 66 by the
Bulldogs. CSU had 10 total blocks while the Red and Black had six.
The teams were nearly even in assists as the Lady Bucs dished out
57 to GWU's 55.
In the first set, GWU found itself in an early hole. CSU jumped out
to a 4-1 lead and extended it to four on a kill by Cori Holeman.
Then, after a timeout, the Bulldogs got back on track. Bethany
Martin slammed home a kill and an attack error by Emily Libertowski
put the score at 10-8.
GWU was unable to slice into the deficit at that point as the home
team slowly extended the lead to seven, 20-13. Another break in the
action by the Bulldogs helped the squad regroup and regain its
focus. Once again, Martin answered the bell with a kill, sparking
the potent GWU offense. Rookie Even Moffit split the defense on her
spectacular serve, pulling the Bulldogs within five, 20-15. After
the teams exchanged points, Martin found the court again before
Katie Matykowski found an open spot on her serve, making the score
21-18 in favor of CSU, which forced a timeout by the Lady Bucs.
An attack error by Amanda Hill helped the Bulldogs climb within
two, 21-19. After a kill by Sam Sasan, Steinebrunner recorded one
of her own. Tamia Herholz then checked into the game and made CSU
pay notice to her immediately as she posted an ace. A kill by
Wilcox evened the set at 22-22, forcing another timeout.
Wilcox gave the Bulldogs a brief lead, 23-22, on the very next
play. However, Sasan tied it on a kill. Sasan gave the Lady Bucs a
24-23 lead on an ace, but the team was unable to close out the set
as Steinebrunner stepped up and killed a pass from Feagin to knot
the score.
CSU had another set point after a service error by GWU, but
Steinebrunner once again made sure the set didn't end in a bad way
for the visitors as she posted another kill. Wilcox got another one
of her six first-set kills, but Amanda Hill evened the score at
26-26. Feagin went to the well again, finding Wilcox who pumped up
the Bulldogs with the go-ahead kill. A bad set by Amy Nokes finally
ended the first-set marathon as GWU took the 28-26 victory.
The Lady Bucs evened the score in set two with a 26-24 victory.
Once again, the home team gained an early 4-1 lead only to see it
become non-existent as the Bulldogs battled back to knot the score
at 6-6 behind kills from Moffitt and two from Wilcox. As the teams
continued to trade points, neither was able to gain much of an
advantage until CSU increased its lead to three at 17-14.
A timeout from GWU didn't stop the spark by the Lady Bucs as they
increased the lead to five at 21-16. Head coach Chris Phillips then
inserted junior defensive specialist into he line-up and it paid
dividends.
As Wilson dropped back to serve, Feagin and Herholz stuffed Amanda
Hill, sparking a run for the Red and Black. After an attack error
by Sasan, Wilson found Ashlee Kadatz on the other side of the court
on her serve. Kadatz misplayed the ball for an ace by Wilson,
forcing a timeout. Hill had another attack error before
back-to-back kills by Steinebrunner gave the Bulldogs a 22-21 lead.
However, GWU still was not done with what turned out to be a 7-0
run as Wilson picked on Kadatz again on the serve and getting
another ace.
CSU's Hill ignited a 3-0 run by the home team, but Steinebrunner
tied the contest at 24-24. The Lady Bucs scored the final two
points, ending the hopes of GWU taking a 2-0 lead into the
intermission.
After the break, it looked as though the Bulldogs would take the
third set, but the Lady Bucs were able to climb back into the
contest before eventually pulling away for the four-point win,
25-21.
GWU raced out to a 10-5 lead with most of its points coming off CSU
attack errors. Between mistakes by the home squad were four kills
by Wilcox to go along with one by Moffit and Steinebrunner.
CSU scored six of the next seven points to knot the score at 11-11.
GWU bounced back to take the lead on a service error by
Libertowski. The Lady Bucs then scored two straight for the lead,
but saw the Bulldogs put some bite to go along with their bark.
Wilcox and Steinebrunner kept finding holes in the defense while
GWU's defense kept balls in play, eventually forcing CSU into
attack errors.
With the score tied at 18, back-to-back attack errors by the
Bulldogs forced Phillips to call a timeout. After the break, Feagin
took a pass from Moffit and dumped it over the unsuspecting defense
to make the score 21-19. However, GWU was unable to climb any
closer as CSU closed out the third set with a win.
The fourth set proved to be another close call for the Bulldogs.
Each squad played well from the get-go as the score was tied at 5-5
through 10 possessions. CSU slowly took the lead, reaching a
four-point advantage at 11-7, which forced Phillips to call a
timeout.
Martin scored a point out of the break, but an error gave another
point to the home team. Trailing 13-8, Wilcox broke her career high
with her 18th kill. She followed it up with a block of
Amy Nokes, which was the second of four straight points by the
Bulldogs. The next two, which pulled GWU within one, were from the
hand of Feagin as she notched two consecutive aces.
Trailing 14-12, Wilcox slammed home another kill before teaming
with Moffit to stuff Libertowski to knot the score at 14-14. An
error by Amanda Hill forced CSU to call a timeout.
After the break, the Lady Bucs scored two straight points before
making a mistake, allowing GWU to regain a brief lead. As the teams
continued to trade points, neither team was able to gain a
two-point lead until Sam Sasan committed a ball handling error
which gave the Bulldogs a 21-19 lead. Another break in the action
gave CSU time to regroup.
The Lady Bucs scored the next two points before Steinebrunner
answered for the Bulldogs. With the score tied at 22, Phillips
called a timeout. Out of the break, Feagin found Steinebrunner for
another kill. Then, Hill committed another error giving GWU set
point. Hill atoned for her error with a kill, but then was unable
to get the ball over the net for a service error, which gave the
Bulldogs the 25-23 win and forced the deciding set.
In the final set, GWU fell down big early and was unable to
recover. After trailing 4-1, GWU did knot the score at five as well
as six, but the team was not able to ever take the lead. After CSU
pushed its lead to three at 10-7, the Bulldogs were able to cut the
lead to two on two occasions, but could get no closer. Facing match
point, Hill committed an error, keeping the Bulldogs alive
momentarily at 14-11. However, GWU's 13th service error
of the night gave the home team the victory.
The Bulldogs try to get back on track tomorrow when they head to
Conway, S.C., to take on Coastal Carolina in a 2 p.m. contest.
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