Gardner-Webb Falls To Liberty In Big South Quarterfinals
November 21, 2008 | Volleyball
– It took a little time, but the Bulldogs put together a
feisty contest against top-seeded Liberty Friday evening at the Big
South Tournament, which was hosted by UNC Asheville. However,
despite its best effort, the Gardner-Webb volleyball team fell by a
3-0 score (15-25, 19-25, 15-25) to the Flames.
Head coach Chris Phillips' team ends its
season with a 5-27 mark while Liberty advances to the semifinals
and now stands at 23-8.
The Bulldogs, which took Liberty to five sets the last time the
squads played, had a bit of jitters in their first-ever Big South
postseason match.
GWU opened the contest with a service error but quickly tied it on
Heidi Steinebrunner's kill. From that point on, the Bulldogs hurt
themselves with miscues, which could be attributed to nerves.
Down 14-4, the Red and Black played even the rest of the way in the
match, but could never get one of its patented runs going. Things
looked like they made a turn for the better after Freshman of the
Year Laura Wilcox teamed with fellow first-year standout Evan
Moffitt to block Karyl Bacon. Senior Bethany Martin followed that
up with a kill, pulling the Bulldogs within 11, 22-11. Martin's
slam forced Liberty to take a timeout. However, the Flames would go
on to win the set 25-15.
GWU came out fired up in the second set, staking a 12-9 lead as
Martin teamed with Feagin to stuff Jessica Nelson. Once again,
miscues played a big role in allowing the Flames to get back into
the set. A service error turned the tide as Liberty went on a 5-1
run to claim a 14-13 lead. It marked the closest GWU would get the
rest of the way as the Flames' serving game was on fire and
continually gave the Bulldogs trouble. Liberty won the set
25-19.
After the intermission, GWU jumped out to a 4-1 lead as Nicki
Scripko and Jessica Nelson committed attack errors. Liberty battled
back and scored six unanswered, taking a lead it would not
relinquish. Two timeouts by Phillips were unable to get her team
back even with the designated home squad no matter how hard it
battled. Despite its best effort, GWU lost the third set 25-15.
Martin and Steinebrunner, both seniors, led the Bulldogs with eight
kills apiece. Fellow senior Katie Matykowski posted a match-high 13
digs while adding one more ace to her career-leading total. Rookies
Moffitt, Wilcox and Tamia Herholz each slammed home three
kills.
Junior Regina Feagin dished out a team-best 23 assists. Martin
assisted on four blocks while Feagin and Moffitt each assisted on
two.
The contest marked the last of three stellar careers as Martin,
Matykowski and Steinebrunner helped lead the program to some
impressive wins in addition to helping usher this year's team into
the first year of the Big South Conference.
Martin closes her illustrious career as the school's career leader
in blocks. Matykowski is the career leader for digs and aces while
Steinebrunner, who transferred to GWU last year, established
herself as one of the most dominant offensive players in the
program's history. Steinebrunner finishes her impressive career in
fifth place on the career kills list.
| Box Score |
