Bulldogs Suffer First Big South Conference Loss
October 03, 2008 | Volleyball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – In what was anticipated as the biggest Big South Conference match in the Gardner-Webb volleyball program's history, the Red and Black was unable to pull out its third consecutive conference win, falling 3-0 to preseason favorite Liberty Friday evening.
The Bulldogs fall to 4-12 on the season and 2-1 in Big South play.
The Lady Flames stand at 12-5 on the year and 3-0 in conference
competition.
Statistically, senior Heidi Steinebrunner was essentially even with reigning Big South Player of the Week Nicki Scripko. Steinebrunner amassed a team-best nine kills and hit .182 while Scripko led the victors with 10 kills while hitting .192.
Laura Wilcox, the reigning Big South Freshman of the Week, chipped in five kills while hitting .235. Junior Regina Feagin recorded her 3,000th career assist and finished with a team-high 23. Feagin also led GWU with seven digs.
Staying on the defensive side, Steinebrunner had the Bulldogs' only
solo block while she and Wilcox combined for a block assist.
GWU was held to an attack percentage of .057. The squad had 25
kills on 88 attacks while committing 20 attack errors. The Bulldogs
had an assist on every kill. The team also had two service aces in
the match.
In the first set, the Lady Flames jumped out to an early two-point
lead only to see GWU battle back and tie the score after two after
a kill and block by Steinebrunner. The teams traded points over the
next four possessions to make the score 4-4. The Bulldogs then took
their only lead of the set at 5-4 on an attack error by Jessica
Nelson.
Down by one, Liberty went on a 6-1 run thanks in part to three GWU
miscues to go along with three kills. The Lady Flames gradually
increased their lead to seven at 18-11, forcing Phillips to call
her second timeout of the set.
GWU was unable to capitalize after the timeout as Liberty tallied
the next three points before Tamia Herholz's kill made the score
21-12. Although the Lady Flames would go on to win the set, the
Bulldogs' three consecutive points forced the home team to call a
timeout up 23-16, giving GWU a little momentum heading into the
second set.
Down 1-0 in set two, the Bulldogs capitalized on the late momentum
from the first set. Steinebrunner powered home a Feagin pass to
knot the score. Liberty took two of the next three points, gaining
a 3-2 lead. However, it wouldn't last long.
After an attack error by Nelson that tied the contest, another
Liberty miscue would give the Bulldogs a 4-3 advantage. Wilcox, the
three-time Big South Rookie of the Week, then took an Evan Moffitt
pass and found the court for a 5-3 lead. Another Lady Flames'
mistake would give the Red and Black a three-point advantage.
Liberty, however, would not go down easily. The home squad fought
back and tied the contest at 7-7. After an attack error by GWU,
Moffitt evened the set at 8-8. The Lady Flames would go on a 3-0
spurt for an 11-8 lead only to see the Bulldogs battle back,
scoring the next two on Liberty mistakes to put the score
11-10.
The Lady Flames posted seven straight points for an 18-10 advantage
with the scores coming mainly on GWU attack errors. Steinebrunner
ended the 7-0 run with a kill. From there, the squads would
continue to trade points back and forth the rest of the way, with
neither being able to score more than two before the other earned a
side-out allowing the home team to earn a 25-19 win in the set and
take a 2-0 advantage into the intermission.
The third stanza looked as if it would be the one to get the
Bulldogs on track in the early going. GWU's Wilcox slammed home the
first ball of the set for a 1-0 lead. Steinebrunner and Wilcox
combined to stuff Brittany Pacella before Feagin's serve found
Kelly Haseman, who wasn't able to handle the heat, giving GWU a 3-0
advantage.
The Lady Flames quickly tied the score before Moffitt put the
Bulldogs up one. The two teams traded the next six points before
Liberty tallied two in a row for an 8-7 lead. Neither could get a
run going as the home squad took a 10-9 advantage. Wilcox's kill
quickly tied the contest before GWU forced the Lady Flames into
another miscue for an 11-10 GWU lead.
Liberty then got things going, scoring nine of the next 10 points
to essentially put the contest away. Back-to-back attack errors by
the Lady Flames' Karyl Bacon and Nicki Scripko pulled the Bulldogs
within five, 19-14. Chelaine McCarty quickly got the two points
back, recording consecutive kills for a 21-14 lead. Steinebrunner
posted two more kills while Herholz added another, but the Lady
Flames were the quickest to 25 in the match, winning 25-17.
The Bulldogs return to action tomorrow afternoon in another Big
South Conference match-up. GWU will take on the Highlanders of
Radford at 2 p.m., in Radford, Va.
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