Runnin' Bulldogs' Season Comes to an End with a 3-1 Loss to No. 1 Liberty in the First Round of the 2011 Big South Volleyball Championship
November 17, 2011 | Volleyball
Charleston, S.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team saw their season come to an end to the hands of the Liberty Lady Flames in the first round of the Big South Volleyball Championship, as the No. 8 Runnin' Bulldogs fell to No. 1 Liberty 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 19-25) on Thursday afternoon at the Buccaneer Fieldhouse in Charleston, S.C.
The Runnin' Bulldogs finish the season at 10-20 overall, while Liberty at 18-12 advance to the semifinals to take on the winner of No. 4 UNC Asheville and No. 5 Campbell.
Looking to post their second-straight win over the Lady Flames, the Runnin' Bulldogs ran to a 4-1 lead in the opening set on a Carol Solano kill and three straight Liberty errors.
However, after a Liberty timeout, the Lady Flames came out with six straight points to retake the lead at 7-4 over the Runnin' Bulldogs.
After a second kill by Solano and a Tyler Cockrell service ace cut the Liberty lead to one at 7-6, the Lady Flames used a Kelly Haseman service ace to pull back in front by three at 11-8.
Four straight points by Gardner-Webb, highlighted by two service aces by the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year Evan Moffitt, put the Runnin' Bulldogs back on top by one at 12-11.
With the Lady Flames up two at 16-14, Gardner-Webb ran off three straight points by way of two Molly Rhyne kills and a Liberty attack error to again take the lead by one, this time at 17-16.
The set of runs continued as Liberty went on an 8-3 run to take a 24-19 set lead, only to have the Runnin' Bulldogs score the next four points to cut the Liberty lead back to one at 24-23.
An Ansley Gebben kill ended the Gardner-Webb run and gave the 25-23 set win to the Lady Flames, who took a 1-0 match lead with the opening set victory.
The second set belonged to the Runnin' Bulldogs, as Gardner-Webb quickly erased what momentum Liberty had from the first set win, by jumping out to a 6-2 lead on a Melissa Richie kill and then a Liberty attack error.
Despite a 4-1 run by the Lady Flames, Gardner-Webb was able to hold on to a slight 10-7 lead and then push it out to as much as nine at 18-9 on back-to-back kills by Cockrell and Richie.
After a Liberty timeout, the Lady Flames answered the challenge by outscoring Gardner-Webb 6-2 to cut the Runnin' Bulldog lead to five at 20-15.
A Richie kill halted the Liberty run, as the Runnin' Bulldogs finished the set out on a 5-3 run to take set two 25-18 and tie the match up at 1-1.
Gardner-Webb again took advantage of early Liberty errors and two kills by Solano to take a 4-1 lead to start the third set.
The Runnin' Bulldogs were able to play the Lady Flames point for point over the next several rallies, until a 5-1 run by Liberty pushed them in front at 14-13 and forced Gardner-Webb to use a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Gardner-Webb battled back to retake the lead at 19-17 on a Lauren Evans kill and another Liberty attack error, forcing the Lady Flames to call a timeout.
After back-to-back Liberty points knotted the set up at 19-19, an Evans' kill again kept the Runnin' Bulldogs in front by one, this time at 20-19.
However, the top seeded Lady Flames proved why they won 17 matches in the regular season, as Liberty finished the set out on a 5-2 run to take the third set 25-22 and the 2-1 match lead.
In the fourth set, again Gardner-Webb had an early lead, as back-to-back kills from Solano put the Runnin' Bulldogs in front at 4-2.
Yet like all of the previous three sets, Liberty was able to fight their way back into the contest, taking a 9-8 lead on a Gardner-Webb attack error.
After a Cockrell kill knotted the set up at 9-9, Liberty took the lead for good and essentially put the set away with an 8-1 run to take a 17-10 lead on a Gebben's kill.
The Runnin' Bulldogs got to as close as five at 23-18 on two consecutive Cockrell kills, however, the deficit proved to be too much as Liberty held on for the 25-19 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
Cockrell led the Runnin' Bulldogs with 12 kills and six block assists, while Solano added nine kills and four block assists of her own. Seniors Laura Wilcox and Evans each posted eight kills in their final match, while Moffitt recorded a team-high 25 digs and two service aces in the loss.
For Liberty, Loren Thomas and Lillie Happle posted 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while Haseman totaled 24 digs in the four set win.
"I'm so proud of our players. We fought well," commented Head Coach Leo Sayles. "Liberty was a little more poised down the stretch and was able to execute a little better late in each set. I'm only disappointed that we couldn't extend our season a little longer for our seniors."
The Runnin' Bulldogs, who won their first-ever set in the Big South Championship on Thursday, fall to 0-4 in the Big South Volleyball Championship tournament overall and 0-6 in postseason conference tournament play since transitioning to NCAA Division I in 2000-01.
The Runnin' Bulldogs 10 wins is the most for a GWU team since 2009, while GWU's five conference wins is the most in a single-season since joining the Big South in 2008.
Gardner-Webb also posted a number of firsts in 2011, as the Runnin' Bulldogs posted their first-ever win over Liberty on November 11th and their first-ever Big South Conference win over High Point on October 28th.
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| Box Score: No. 1 Liberty 3, No. 8 Gardner-Webb 1 |
