Runnin' Bulldogs Drop a Five Set Thriller to Campbell, 3-2
October 29, 2011 | Volleyball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team took sets one and three in dominating fashion, however, the other three sets went in favor of the Campbell Fighting Camels who escaped Boiling Springs, N.C. with a 3-2 (25-11, 23-25, 25-15, 17-25, 15-17) Big South Conference win on Saturday night.
The loss drops Gardner-Webb to 9-16 overall and 4-6 in the Big South, while the win pushes Campbell to 12-14 overall and 5-5 in conference play.
On Homecoming Weekend, the Runnin' Bulldogs came out of the gates on fire, running out to a 14-5 lead in the opening set on a Campbell attack error.
After a Campbell timeout, the Runnin' Bulldogs pushed their lead to 10 at 15-5 on a Lauren Evans' kill, as GWU finished the set out on a 10-6 run to take the opening set in dominating fashion 25-11 and an early 1-0 match lead.
The second set proved to be much closer, as GWU took an 11-6 lead on a Heather Feldman service ace. However, the Fighting Camels hung around and refused to go away, battling back to cut the Runnin' Bulldog lead to two at 17-15 on a Lorin Thomas kill.
Out of a GWU timeout, the Runnin' Bulldogs held on to a slight two point lead at 19-17 to force Campbell to call their first timeout.
After the Camels' timeout, Campbell went on a 4-1 run to take a 21-20 lead on a GWU attack error.
GWU would knot the score up at 22-22 and once more at 23-23, however, the Camels finished the set out with two straight points to take the 25-23 set win and tie the match up at 1-1.
The third set mirrored the first, as the Runnin' Bulldogs led from start to finish, rolling out to a 14-7 lead on a Campbell attack error.
Over the next several rallies, GWU pushed their lead to 11 at 21-10 on a Molly Rhyne kill and proved to be in control of the set in the 25-15 set win.
Leading the match 2-1, GWU looked to win it all in set four, however, the Camels had different plans, taking a 15-8 lead with the help of three straight Runnin' Bulldog attack errors.
The visiting Fighting Camels pushed their lead to as high as 10 en route to a 25-17 set win, which tied the match up at two sets apiece.
The fifth and decisive set was exciting from start to finish, as the final frame saw 10 ties and five lead changes.
The two teams' went back-and-forth for the first several rallies, until Campbell went on a 3-1 run to take a 10-7 lead and force a GWU timeout.
Gardner-Webb stormed back to take a 12-10 lead, highlighted by back-to-back Evans' kills, only to see the Camels tied the score up at 12-12, 13-13 and 14-14.
A kill by sophomore middle blocker Tyler Cockrell put the Runnin' Bulldogs up by one at 15-14 and gave GWU set point.
Campbell scored the next three points, all by way of three GWU errors, to take the 17-15 set win and the 3-2 match victory.
Evans posted a match-high 17 kills, while Cockrell and senior Laura Wilcox recorded 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Senior Evan Moffitt recorded a match-high 24 digs, while Feldman dished out 48 set assists. Cockrell also added 10 total kills in the loss.
For Campbell, Brooke Kelly tallied 13 kills, while Thomas added 11 kills to help lead the Camels in the five set win.
Gardner-Webb (9-16, 4-6 Big South) will hit the road next week to take on the Presbyterian College Blue House at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 4th, in Clinton, S.C.
Campbell (12-14, 5-5 Big South) will remain on the road to take on the Liberty Lady Flames at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 4th, in Lynchburg, Va.
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| Box Score: Campbell 3, Gardner-Webb 2 |
