GWU's Middles Dominate in 3-0 Win over Western Carolina on Wednesday Night
September 22, 2011 | Volleyball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb middle blockers Laura Wilcox and Tyler Cockrell dominated the match from start to finish, as the Runnin' Bulldogs defeated the Western Carolina Catamounts 25-21, 25-19 and 25-24 on Wednesday night in front of a crowd clad in black for "Black Out" Night in Paul Porter Arena.
Gardner-Webb's Cockrell and Wilcox combined for 25 kills and 11 total blocks to lead the Runnin' Bulldogs to the three set win, GWU's fourth win of the season.
With the win, the Runnin' Bulldogs improve to 4-9 on the year and 2-0 at home, while Western Carolina falls to 5-10 overall with the loss.
In the first set, after falling behind 6-4 on a GWU attack error, the Runnin' Bulldogs responded with a 6-3 run capped off by back-to-back Western Carolina errors to take a 12-9 and force the Catamounts to call a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Gardner-Webb's momentum could not be stopped, as the Runnin' Bulldogs pushed its lead out to eight at 19-11 to force Western Carolina to call their second timeout.
GWU took a 24-16 lead on a kill by Wilcox and looked to put the set away when Western Carolina ran off with five straight points to cut the Gardner-Webb lead to three at 24-21.
On the very next play, Wilcox received a pass from freshman setter Heather Feldman and pounded the ball into the ground on the Catamounts' side to give the Runnin' Bulldogs the 25-21 set win.
Western Carolina took an early 2-0 lead on back-to-back kills from Caitlin Piechota to start the second set, yet the Runnin' Bulldogs clawed its way back into the set, crawling back to tie the score up at 9-9 on yet another kill from Wilcox.
After tying the score up at 9-9, the Runnin' Bulldogs outscored Western Carolina 8-5, highlighted by kills from outside hitter Molly Rhyne, Cockrell and Wilcox, to take a three point lead at 17-14 and force a Western Carolina timeout.
Down the stretch the Runnin' Bulldogs refused to relinquish the lead, as the Catamounts got no closer then three points for the remainder of the set, as right side hitter Carol Solano put the set away with a kill to give the Runnin' Bulldogs the 25-19 set win.
Up 2-0, the Runnin' Bulldogs got off to a great start in set three, taking a huge 7-1 lead on a kill from Cockrell.
After Western Carolina tied the score up at 10-10 with a 9-2 run, the Runnin' Bulldogs got a huge kill from sophomore outside hitter Erin Anderson to stop the Catamount run and put the home team back in front at 11-10.
Gardner-Webb took the lead and ran with it, holding off the Catamounts to take a 20-17 lead on another Anderson kill and force Western Carolina to call a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Western Carolina evened the score up at 23-23 on a kill by Piechota and put the pressure back on Gardner-Webb.
After each team made an error to put the score at 24-24, Western Carolina made back-to-back errors to end the set and give GWU the 26-24 set win and the 3-0 match victory.
Gardner-Webb posted 11 total team blocks, six more than the Catamounts who had six for the match.
Cockrell led they way with 13 kills and 11 total blocks, while Wilcox followed with 12 kills of her own. Feldman dished out a match-high 38 assists, while senior libero Evan Moffitt tallied a match-high 25 digs.
For Western Carolina, Piechota recorded 13 kills and 18 digs, while setter Brittany Lysik dished out 28 set assists.
The Runnin' Bulldogs (4-9) will look to continue to add to its current two-match winning streak on Friday night, as GWU opens up Big South Conference play on the road at UNC Asheville. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m. and will be video streamed live on the Big South Network presented by State Farm Insurance.
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| Box Score: Gardner-Webb 3, Western Carolina 0 |
