Lady Bulldog's Season Comes to an End With a 3-0 Loss to Liberty in the First Round of the Big South Volleyball Championship
November 19, 2009 | Volleyball
Radford, Va. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team had its season come to an end on Thursday afternoon, as the Lady Bulldogs fell to the No. 2 seeded Liberty Lady Flames 3-0 in the first round of the 2009 Big South Volleyball Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting.
With the loss the Lady Bulldogs finished the season with a 12-22
overall record, nearly tripling its win total from a year ago, and
a 4-12 Big South conference record.
The slow starting Lady Bulldogs fell behind in set one 1-0, yet
battled back to take a 3-2 lead on a big block by freshman right
side hitter Carolina Solano. However, a GWU service error tied the
score up and gave the Lady Flames some life, as Liberty pulled out
to a 14-9 lead on a Chelaine McCarty kill.
Gardner-Webb responded with back-to-back points on a block by
Jessica Clayton and Melissa Richie followed up by a Richie kill to
cut the Liberty lead to three at 14-11 and force Liberty to call a
timeout.
Out of the timeout, Liberty responded with a 4-1 run capped off by
a Nicki Scripko kill to take its largest lead of the set at
18-12.
The Lady Bulldogs got to as close as three points at 21-18,
highlighted by two kills by both Laura Wilcox and Molly Rhyne, only
to have Liberty finish off the set strong with four straight points
to take the 25-18 set win and an early 1-0 match lead.
Down 1-0 in the match, the young Lady Bulldogs responded by pulling
out to a 2-1 lead on a Wilcox kill. Yet just like in the opening
set, Liberty stormed back to take a 6-5 lead on a kill by
Scripko.
Gardner-Webb refused to go away, as the pesky Lady Bulldogs took a
9-8 lead on a kill by Solano. However, a 5-0 run by the Lady
Flames erased the Lady Bulldogs lead, and pushed Liberty out to a
13-9 lead.
Liberty would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the set,
as the Lady Bulldogs would not get any closer down the stretch, as
Liberty came away with the 25-19 win.
With the 2-0 lead and the momentum heading into the third set,
Liberty ran out to a 4-1 lead on a Brittany Pacella service
ace.
GWU scored the next three points to knot the score up at 4-4 on a
Richie service ace, only to have Liberty answer with a 4-0 run of
its own to retake the lead at 8-4 and force a Gardner-Webb
timeout.
Again the Lady Bulldogs were not ready to throw in the white towel
just yet, as a kill by Solano capped off a 9-5 run to tie the score
up at 13-13.
The two teams' then went back-and-forth, going point for point,
until Liberty broke through first with three straight points to
pull out to a 19-16 lead.
The Liberty run would be enough, as the Lady Flames held off the
Lady Bulldogs down the stretch, escaping with the 25-21 set win and
the 3-0 match lead.
Wilcox and Rhyne, who both tallied 12 kills apiece, led
Gardner-Webb, while Clayton added seven kills of her own for the
match. Senior libero Brett Wilson collected a team-high 16 digs,
while Regina Feagin dished out 33 set assists.
Liberty was led by Scripko's 21 kills, while McCarty posted 10
kills over the three set match. Libero Kelly Haseman recorded 16
digs, while setter Courtney Boggs dished out 41 set assists, a
match-high.
The future looks bright for the Lady Bulldogs, as Gardner-Webb had
two players in Wilcox and Rhyne receive All-Conference
recognition. While GWU will lose three seniors in Jessica Clayton,
Regina Feagin and Brett Wilson, Coach Phillips' squad will return
the other eight student-athletes from this season, who all saw
minutes and gained valuable experience over the course of this
year.
###
| Box Score: No. 2 Liberty 3, No. 7 Gardner-Webb 0 |
