Career Nights Can't Carry Gardner-Webb Past Wildcats In Five-Set Thriller
October 07, 2008 | Volleyball
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Freshmen Tamia Herholz and Laura Wilcox each had career nights, but the duo was unable to help the Gardner-Webb volleyball team overcome a 2-0 deficit as the Bulldogs fell 3-2 (21-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-18, 5-15) to Davidson Tuesday night in a non-conference match-up.
The Bulldogs fall to 4-14 on the season.
Herholz posted her first career double-double after amassing 13
digs and 11 kills. The rookie also posted career-highs with four
aces and three block assists. Four-time Big South Freshman of the
Week tallied a career and match-best 17 kills while nearly matching
her career high of 10 digs by recording nine. Wilcox added a block
assist in the match.
The catalyst of the potent GWU offense was junior Regina Feagin,
who dished out 39 assists to go along with nine digs. Rookie
Brittany Wilson was the recipient of a career-high nine of Feagin's
assists as she nearly reached double figures in the kills column
for the first time in her young career. Senior Heidi Steinebrunner
notched eight kills in the contest.
On the defensive front, senior Katie Matykowski totaled a
match-high 18 digs while chipping in with two assists and an ace.
In addition to Herholz's three block assists, Wilson and
Steinebrunner each had two block assists.
In the first set, GWU held a 16-14 advantage after a bad set by
Anna Bradbury. However, the lead would not last for long as
Davidson came back to take a 17-16 lead on a Bulldog miscue. The
teams continued to trade points until the score was once again tied
at 21. The Wildcats tied the score at 21-21 on a kill that sparked
a 5-0 run to end the contest. During the run, the Bulldogs had
three mistakes that aided Davidson's win in set one, 25-21.
Not letting the first set get GWU down, head coach Chris Phillips'
team jumped out to an eight-point lead at 15-7 behind the strength
of well-position serves by Matykowski, forcing the home squad into
three attack errors. Mixed in the Wildcats' miscues was an ace by
the defensive specialist.
Slowly, Davidson sliced into the Bulldogs' lead, eventually tying
the contest at 18-18. A timeout seemed to right the ship as Herholz
pounded home a Feagin pass out of the break, but Tierney Hodge tied
the contest. Herholz scored the next two GWU points, giving the
visitors a 21-20 lead. The Bulldogs held a 23-22 lead before a kill
by Davidson and a mistake gave the Wildcats a 24-23 lead. Feagin
tied the match off a pass from Herholz, but back-to-back kills by
the home squad gave the team a 26-24 win.
After the intermission, the Bulldogs refused to let set three slip
away from them, racing out to a 14-7 lead which led to a timeout by
Davidson. Two quick points by the Wildcats forced Phillips to halt
play momentarily, which allowed her team to quickly regain its
composure.
Up 14-9, the Bulldogs went on a 5-2 run as Herholz, Wilcox and
Wilson all had kills while Steinebrunner and Wilcox stuffed Kittery
Neale.
Another timeout by Davidson did not help the home team as the Red
and Black slowly pulled away to end the game on Feagin's ace,
winning 25-17.
The momentum from set three carried over for GWU in the following
set. However, the Wildcats tried to keep things close as the score
was tied at 12-12 after an ace by Herholz. Herholz's strong serve
on the next ball gave the Bulldogs the lead for good, 13-12.
Stinebrunner gave GWU a two-point lead, but Davidson would not go
away easily. With the score 15-14 in favor of the Bulldogs, Wilcox
went to work with back-to-back slams, forcing the Wildcats into a
timeout.
With Steinebrunner back to serve, GWU ran off four more points, two
of which came from Wilcox while an attack error and another ace
forced the Wildcats into using their second timeout of the set.
Wilson and Moffitt each recorded a kill for the Bulldogs, which set
up set point. After an attack error by GWU allowed Davidson to pull
within six, Herholz found the middle of the court to force the
decisive fifth set.
As the teams traded points in the early going of the fifth set, two
attack errors by GWU gave the Wildcats a 6-4 advantage. A timeout
by Phillips did not help as Davidson tallied the next three points
before the Bulldogs could get on the board by a kill from Wilson.
However, it was not enough as Davidson ran off the final five
points to win the contest.
The Bulldogs return to action Friday evening at Charleston Southern. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
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