Lady Bulldogs Falter At Home, Fall To PC 3-1 on Tuesday Night
September 30, 2009 | Volleyball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team had its two-match winning streak snapped on Tuesday night, as the Presbyterian College Blue Hose defeated the Lady Bulldogs 3-1 in Paul Porter Arena.
The Lady Bulldogs, who had 24 attack errors, nine receiving errors
and seven service errors over the four set match, fell in four sets
25-17, 22-25, 27-25 and 25-17 to the Blue Hose.
With the loss Gardner-Webb falls to 7-11 overall and 1-2 in the Big
South on the year, while Presbyterian College moves to 6-10 and 1-1
in conference play with the win.
The first set of the night belonged to the Lady Bulldogs, as
Gardner-Webb posted a team attack percentage of .483, picking up
only two attack errors for the entire set.
After the Blue Hose knotted the score up at 1-1 on a kill by Haley
Thurmond, it was all GWU as the Lady Bulldogs pulled out to an 8-4
advantage on a kill by freshman outside hitter Molly Rhyne.
Presbyterian College battled back to cut the lead to one at 9-8 and
then again at 10-9, but would not get any closer as again the Lady
Bulldogs pulled out to a huge lead at 19-14 on a kill by sophomore
Laura Wilcox.
Gardner-Webb put the set away on back-to-back PC attack errors,
taking a 1-0 match lead on the 25-17 set win.
However, the second set was far from the first, as the Lady
Bulldogs recorded an attack percentage of .087, as GWU had nine
attack errors for the set.
The two teams played each other even to a 8-8 tie when PC ran off
three straight points to take a 11-8 lead and force a GWU
timeout.
Gardner-Webb would try to fight back, staying in the match and
cutting the lead to two at 24-22 on a kill by Wilcox. However, it
was PC that finished the match of with back-to-back points and a
set point kill by Presley Mabrey to give the Blue Hose the 25-22
win and tie the match up at 1-1.
The third set again went in favor of the Blue Hose, as the Lady
Bulldogs struggled to execute consistently throughout the set.
The Lady Bulldogs pulled out to an 8-5 lead on five straight points
and remained on top until PC tied the score up at 12-12 on a GWU
attack error.
For the remainder of the set, neither team could pull away setting
up for what would prove to be an exciting ending, as PC's Lisa
Shelley put the Blue Hose on top at 26-25 giving the Blue Hose set
point.
On set point a GWU attack error gave the Blue Hose the 27-25 set
win, giving the visitors the 2-1 match advantage and the momentum
heading into the fourth set.
GWU started off the fourth set with a kill by Wilcox to take an
early 1-0 lead. However, PC was not going to give in and outscored
the Lady Bulldogs 20-11 over the majority of the set to take a huge
20-12 lead.
The Lady Bulldogs battled back, but it was too little too late as
PC held off for the 25-17 set win to take the match 3-1.
Gardner-Webb was led by Wilcox, who had 14 kills, two service aces
and two block assists, while Rhyne recorded 11 kills, nine digs and
three total blocks. Senior libero Brett Wilson had a match-high
four service aces to go along with her seven digs, while fellow
classmate Regina Feagin had 39 set assists.
For PC, Allison Brown had a team-high 13 kills, while Shelley added
12 kills of her own. Amanda Kettles and Mabrey each recorded 10
kills apiece, while setter Kilee Ruppe dished out a match-high 44
set assists.
Gardner-Webb will look to return to its winning ways on Friday
night, as the Lady Bulldogs will host the Davidson Wildcats at 7
p.m. in Paul Porter Arena.
###
| Box Score: Presbyterian College 3, Gardner-Webb 1 |
