GWU Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets, 3-0, at Presbyterian on Friday Night
November 05, 2011 | Volleyball
Clinton, S.C. - In what was a back-and-forth match from start to finish, the Gardner-Webb volleyball team were unable to find consistency in their offense, falling to the Presbyterian College Blue Hose in straight sets 25-18, 25-23 and 25-21 in Big South action on Friday night in Clinton, S.C.
With the loss, the Runnin' Bulldogs fall to 9-17 overall and 4-7 in the Big South Conference, while Presbyterian improves to 12-16 overall and 6-6 in the Big South.
The loss is the Runnin' Bulldogs sixth straight to the Blue Hose and drops Gardner-Webb to 2-9 on the road overall for the year.
To start the first set, the Runnin' Bulldogs took an early 2-1 lead on back-to-back PC attack errors, only to have the Blue Hose take the lead back at 7-4 on a GWU attack error.
GWU used a 3-0 run highlighted by a Laura Wilcox kill to tie the score up at 8-8.
After the Runnin' Bulldogs tied the set up at 9-9 and 10-10, a service ace by senior Lauren Evans gave the visitors the lead back at 11-10. However, the back-and-forth affair continued, as this time PC put together a 5-2 run to retake the lead at 16-12 on a Kelly Berryman kill.
The run swayed the momentum in favor of the Blue Hose, as PC outscored the Runnin' Bulldogs 6-2 over the next eight rallies to pull out to their largest lead of the set at 22-14.
Despite outscoring PC 4-3 down the stretch of the opening set, it proved to be too little too late as the Blue Hose held off the late GWU attack for the 25-18 set win and an early 1-0 match lead.
Again, just like in the opening set, the Runnin' Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lea d on a kill by sophomore middle blocker Tyler Cockrell and a PC attack error. Yet this time, Gardner-Webb had a point to answer every Blue Hose run, holding off PC by one at 6-5 on a Melissa Richie kill.
The Blue Hose erased a three point lead by GWU, battling back to tie the match and then take the lead at 11-10 on back-to-back Gardner-Webb attack errors.
The score would go back-and-forth over the next several possessions with GWU holding on to a slight one point lead at 17-16 on an Evans' kill.
Presbyterian answered with back-to-back points to retake the lead from the Runnin' Bulldogs at 18-17 on an Ashtin Frank service ace.
Refusing to throw in the towel, the Runnin' Bulldogs tied the score up at 18-18 on another Evans' kill and then once more at 19-19 on a Carol Solano kill, putting the pressure back on the home team in the second set.
After falling back behind by one at 21-20 on a Rachel Hall kill, the Runnin' Bulldogs posted back-to-back points to retake the lead at 22-21, looking to tie the match score up at one set apiece.
The see-saw match would sway in favor of the Blue Hose, as PC ran off four straight points to give the home team match point at 24-22 and force Gardner-Webb to call a timeout.
A block on a PC attack by Wilcox and Solano cut the Blue Hose lead to one at 24-23, however, a Berryman kill on the very next rally ended the set with the home team in front at 25-23 and a 2-0 match lead.
Down in the match 2-0, Gardner-Webb looked to avoid the three-set loss and ran out to a 6-3 lead on a 4-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back service aces by Cockrell. However, the Runnin' Bulldogs could not put the Blue Hose away, as PC stormed back to take a four point lead at 13-9 on a kill by Allison Brown.
Gardner-Webb cut the Presbyterian lead to two at 15-13, by way off back-to-back kills by Cockrell and fellow sophomore Amanda Murphy, only to have the Blue Hose pull out back in front by six at 21-15 on a Rachel Hall kill.
A 5-2 run by the Runnin' Bulldogs cut the Presbyterian lead back to two at 23-21 and put the visiting team within striking distance.
Yet the next two points went in favor of Caroline Cann and the Blue Hose, who finished the 3-0 match win with a 25-21 third set victory.
Both Solano and Evans recorded a team-high seven kills for the Runnin' Bulldogs, while freshman setter Heather Feldman dished out 22 set assists.
For the Blue Hose, Cann and Berryman posted 12 and 10 kills, respectively, while setter Frank totaled a match-high 39 set assists in the win.
Gardner-Webb (9-17, 4-7 Big South) will play their final road match of the regular season tomorrow afternoon, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will travel to Rock Hill, S.C. to do battle with the Lady Eagles of Winthrop at 2 p.m.
Presbyterian (12-16, 6-6 Big South) will play their final home match of the year tomorrow afternoon as well, as the Blue Hose will host the Asheville Bulldogs at 2 p.m. in Templeton Arena.
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| Box Score: Presbyterian 3, Gardner-Webb 0 |
