Runnin' Bulldogs Fall Short at Home versus Liberty on Friday Night
September 29, 2012 | Volleyball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - In front of a large sea of red on "Red Wave" night in Paul Porter Arena, the Runnin' Bulldogs came up short in a 3-0 loss to the Liberty Lady Flames in Big South Conference play on Friday night in Boiling Springs, N.C.
GWU pushed the Lady Flames to the limit in the opening set in a 25-22 loss, then fell off over the next two sets, 25-14 and 25-18.
The loss ends the Runnin' Bulldogs home winning-streak at three and puts GWU at 6-13 overall and 1-1 in Big South play, while Liberty improves to 12-4 overall and 2-0 in conference play with the victory.
"First of all, we've got to give Liberty credit. They are a very solid team that had a very focused game plan and they were able to work it well against us," Coach Leo Sayles commented. "We had a great crowd, the best crowd I've seen since I've been here. This year with our inexperience it was by far the largest crowd these girls have seen and I don't think we responded as well as we could. I think we'll get used to it if we keep the fans coming back. I'm so glad they stuck here until the end, until the final points, cheering the girls on. I think the girls will learn how to work with that and learn how to use that adrenaline that it gave them, but not allow it to push us beyond what we want to do but help us to focus in even more and be in the zone and play our game."
GWU had five players record six kills or more on Friday night, as junior right side hitter Emily Holte posted nine kills on a team-high .467 attack percentage, while juniors Amanda Murphy, Tyler Cockrell and Erin Anderson all had seven kills for the match. Sophomore setter Heather Feldman dished out 33 set assists, while freshman libero Anna Pashkova led the way with a team-high eight digs.
Liberty was led by Caroline Douglas, who recorded a match-high 17 kills on a .571 attack percentage, while setter Jade Craycraft dished out 32 assists and tallied four digs in the win.
After Cockrell started the match off with back-to-back service aces to put the home team in front 2-0 in the first set, Liberty proved why they are the defending champions by running off five straight points to take a 5-2 lead and force an early GWU timeout.
The Runnin' Bulldogs would battle its way back into the set, as two kills from Murphy tied the score up at 12-12 and then once more at 13-13 to keep the set close midway through the game.
However, a 4-0 run by the Lady Flames pushed the visitors out in front at 17-13 on back-to-back kills from Douglas.
After a kill from senior Carolina Solano ended the Liberty run, GWU was able to keep the score tight, trailing the Lady Flames by no more than four for the rest of the set.
Yet the Runnin' Bulldogs couldn't overcome the Liberty lead, as a kill from Loren Thomas handed the Lady Flames a 25-22 set one victory.
The set one loss took its toll on the Runnin' Bulldogs in set two, as GWU fell behind early at 5-0 to start the second game.
Out of a Gardner-Webb timeout, the home team clawed its way back into the set, cutting the Liberty lead to three at 10-7 on a Cockrell kill. However, the Lady Flames would not allow the Runnin' Bulldogs to get any closer for the remainder of the set, as the visitors used a 10-2 run to take a double digit lead at 20-10.
The two teams' would split the points over the remainder of the set, however, the lead was too much for the home team to overcome, as GWU fell to Liberty 25-14 in the second set and in the match 2-0.
The third set proved to start much like the second, as Liberty ran out to a 6-1 lead on three straight GWU errors.
Again, Gardner-Webb would fight its way back into the set, this time cutting the lead to three at 13-10 on a kill by Holte. However, just like in the second set, Liberty responded with a run of its own, this time an 8-4 run, to take a 21-14 lead en route to a 25-18 set win.
Gardner-Webb will return to action tomorrow afternoon, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will host Radford at 2 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena. GWU will be holding a "Black Out" and asks all the fans to come dressed in black to support the Runnin' Bulldogs.
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| Box Score: Liberty 3, GWU 0 |
