Seniors Lead Lady Bulldogs Past Coastal Carolina in Final Home Match
November 14, 2009 | Volleyball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - Gardner-Webb seniors Jessica Clayton, Regina Feagin and Brett Wilson all played their final home match on Saturday afternoon, as the trio led the Lady Bulldogs to the 3-1 win over Coastal Carolina in Big South Conference play.
With the win the Lady Bulldogs move to 12-21 overall and 4-12 in
conference play, but more importantly the win gives Gardner-Webb
some momentum as they head into the Big South Conference Tournament
next week.
Clayton led the Lady Bulldogs with 10 kills of the bench for GWU,
while Feagin dished out a match-high 39 assists and Wilson tallied
a match-high 16 digs, as the Lady Bulldogs defeated Coastal
Carolina 25-20, 17-25, 25-16, 25-16.
From the opening serve, the Lady Bulldogs were ready to play, as a
kill by sophomore Evan Moffitt put the home team up 4-0 early.
After Coastal Carolina got on the board with a kill by Sierra
Livesay, the Lady Bulldogs continued its hot offense, pulling out
to a 10-3 lead on a kill by freshman Molly Rhyne.
The Lady Chanticleers battled its way back into the set with a 13-9
run, cutting the GWU lead to three at 19-16. However, the Lady
Bulldogs refused to let the Lady Chanticleers get any closer, as a
kill by Rhyne on set point gave GWU the 25-20 set win and the 1-0
match lead.
In the second set, the two teams traded points for most of the
frame, battling toe-to-toe to tie the score up at 13-13. Yet this
time it was the Lady Chanticleers who got hot offensively, as
Coastal Carolina ran off three unanswered points to pull out to a
17-14 lead.
That was enough to jump start the Lady Chanticleers, as Coastal
Carolina finished the set on a 4-0 run to take the 25-17 set win
and tie the match up at 1-1.
The second set loss did not deter the Lady Bulldogs, as GWU
responded by hitting .440 in the third set and committed only one
attack error en route to its 25-16 set win.
After GWU fell behind early at 5-3, the Lady Bulldogs battled back
to take an 11-10 lead on a Wilson service ace.
Coastal Carolina responded with a point to tie the score up at
11-11, yet the Lady Bulldogs had an answer, as GWU outscored
Coastal Carolina 8-3 to pull out to its largest lead of the set at
19-14.
Refusing to let the set get away from them, the Lady Bulldogs
scored six out of the next eight points of the set, capped off by a
Clayton kill to take set three, 25-16 and a 2-1 match lead.
With the momentum on the side of the Lady Bulldogs, GWU took
advantage, pulling out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth set. However,
Coastal Carolina was not ready to pack it in yet, as the visitors
stormed back to take a 9-5 lead on a GWU attack error.
A kill by Rhyne kick started a 10-3 GWU run, as a Wilson service
ace gave the Lady Bulldogs a 15-12 lead and forced the Lady
Chanticleers to call a timeout.
Out of the timeout the Lady Bulldogs stayed hot, as GWU ran off
three straight points to pull out to an 18-12 lead.
The lead would hold out, as three straight points by GWU closed out
the set, giving GWU the 25-16 set win and the 3-1 match win.
Megan Bickford, who had 12 kills and two service aces, while setter
Kelsie Mauck had a team-high 25 assists, led coastal Carolina.
The Lady Bulldogs will now set its sights on the 2009 Big South
Conference Championship Tournament, which will be held in Radford,
Va. on November 19-21.
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| Box Score: Gardner-Webb 3, Coastal Carolina 1 |
