Runnin' Bulldogs Fall at PC in Straight Sets on Tuesday Night
October 27, 2010 | Volleyball
Clinton, S.C. - The Runnin' Bulldogs struggled with its offensive efficiency on Tuesday night, as GWU recorded 18 attack errors to only 25 kills in its 3-0 straight set loss to Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. in Big South Conference volleyball action.
The Blue Hose defended its home court well, holding off GWU with big scoring runs in each set to win 25-14, 25-16 and 25-15 to take the 3-0 match win.
Gardner-Webb took its second lead of the opening set at 10-9 on back-to-back kills by junior setter Evan Moffitt and freshman middle blocker Tyler Cockrell, only to have PC answer with a 6-2 run to retake the lead at 15-12 and force a GWU timeout.
The Runnin' Bulldogs struggled out of the timeout, as the Blue Hose went on a 10-2 run, finishing the set off with eight straight points, to take the 25-14 set win and an early 1-0 match lead.
GWU took an early 1-0 lead on a Laura Wilcox kill to start the second set and battled the Blue Hose toe-to-toe over the next several possessions finding themselves down on at 6-5 on a Molly Rhyne kill.
However, the Blue Hose again went on a little offensive run, outscoring the Runnin' Bulldogs 5-2 to take an 11-7 lead and force GWU to take another early timeout.
Gardner-Webb cut the PC lead to two at 11-9, yet wouldn't get any closer, as the Blue Hose ran out to a huge 20-11 lead en route to a 25-16 set win, in which the Runnin' Bulldogs had only nine kills and seven attack errors for the set.
In the third set, the Runnin' Bulldogs offense continued to struggle, as GWU collected only seven kills compared to six attack errors, posting a 0.034 attack percentage for the set.
GWU ran out to an early 3-0 lead, yet PC responded with four straight points to take its first lead of the set at 4-3, a lead that the home team would not relinquish for the remainder of the match.
The Runnin' Bulldogs battled back from eight down at 13-5 to cut the Blue Hose lead to two at 15-13 on a kill by Rhyne, putting themselves back into the set.
Yet the Blue Hose finished the set out with a 10-2 run to take the set 25-15 and the match 3-0.
Rhyne led GWU with seven kills, while Moffitt had five kills, 14 set assists and seven digs. Junior Lauren Evans had a team-high eight digs, while Cockrell posted five kills and one block assist.
For PC, Amanda Kettles posted a match-high 12 kills and four total blocks, while Presley Mabrey added 10 kills, six digs and two service aces.
Gardner-Webb (5-20, 0-10 Big South) will return home to kick off a four-match home stand on Saturday afternoon, as the Runnin' Bulldogs host Coastal Carolina at 2 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena.
Presbyterian College will host Coastal Carolina on Friday night, October 29th, at 7 p.m. in Clinton, S.C.
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| Box Score: Presbyterian College 3, Gardner-Webb 0 |
