Runnin' Bulldogs Hold On For 3-2 Win Over PC to Remain Undefeated at Home
October 12, 2013 | Volleyball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Runnin' Bulldogs improved to 5-0 at home in Paul Porter Arena with a 3-2 back-and-forth win over the Presbyterian College Lady Blue Hose in Big South action on Friday night in Boiling Springs, N.C.
GWU won the back-and-forth match 25-15, 23-25, 25-21, 18-25, and 16-14 to post its third straight fifth set victory, all of which have come in Big South Conference play.
The win pushes the Runnin' Bulldogs' winning streak to five-straight matches and propels GWU to 11-10 overall and 3-1 in conference play, while the loss drops Presbyterian to 5-14 overall and 3-1 in the Big South.
Gardner-Webb libero Anna Pashkova recorded a career-high 38 digs, which ranks as the third most in a five-set single match in the Runnin' Bulldogs' NCAA Division I history, while the trio of Amanda Murphy, Tyra Montour and Erin Anderson combined for five solo blocks and eight block assists on the night.
Anderson led the Runnin' Bulldogs offensively with 17 kills, to go along with 18 digs and two service aces, while fellow senior Emily Holte and freshman Brianna Starr tallied 14 and 12 kills apiece, respectively. Both Holte and Starr posted double-doubles with 15 and 14 kills apiece, while setter Heather Feldman dished out 54 set assists in the win.
For Presbyterian, middle blocker Andrea Barman posted 19 kills, while Rachel Hall chipped in with 14 kills. Setter Ashtin Frank totaled 49 set assists and 16 digs, while libero Mary Trimpe tallied a team-high 32 digs in the loss.
The Runnin' Bulldogs ran out to a huge 9-2 lead on an Anderson service ace, which capped off a 3-0 run by the home team, to start the first set and fended off a PC charge to take a four point lead at 13-9 on an Anderson kill.
After a Feldman service ace put GWU up five at 14-9, the home team slowly extended its lead out to seven at 21-14 to force a Presbyterian timeout.
The GWU momentum could not be stopped, as the home team finished the set out on a 4-1 run, highlighted by kills from Starr, Murphy and Anderson, to take the double digit win at 25-15 to start the match.
However, the second set saw the Lady Blue Hose take a 3-0 lead on a kill by Barman before the two teams went back-and-forth with the lead over the next several rallies until a GWU attack error and kill from Lena Gavin gave PC a 10-8 lead and forced a GWU timeout.
GWU used two PC attack errors, a kill from Anderson and a Pashkova service ace to take a 12-10 lead, yet the Lady Blue Hose refused to go away, clawing back into the set with an 11-7 run to take a 21-19 lead on a Runnin' Bulldog error.
The Runnin' Bulldogs battled back to tie the match up at 22-22 and then retook the lead at 23-22, however, PC scored the final three points of the frame to pick up the 25-23 set win and tie the match up at 1-1.
The back-and-forth match continued, as in the third set, GWU took a 6-2 lead on a Feldman kill, only to see the Lady Blue Hose answer with an 11-5 run to take a 13-11 lead on two straight GWU errors.
Out of a GWU timeout, the Runnin' Bulldogs used a scoring surge of its own, outscoring PC 6-3 to take a one point lead at 17-16 on kills from Holte and Anderson.
Over the next several rallies, which saw two Presbyterian timeouts, the home team pushed its lead at to four at 22-18 on a Taylor Lillard kill.
Presbyterian cut the GWU lead to two at 22-20, only to see kills from Holte and Lillard, as well as a service ace from Starr drive the home team to the 25-21 third set win.
Staying true to the flow of the match, the Lady Blue Hose took an 11-6 lead to start the fourth set on a kill from Rachel Hall.
After falling behind by as much as seven, twice over the next several plays, the Runnin' Bulldogs fought back to cut the Presbyterian lead to three at 18-15 and at 19-16 on two keys from Lillard.
Yet the Lady Blue Hose had an answer for every GWU run, as the visitors held off the home team for a 25-18 set win to tie the match up at two sets apiece.
The fifth and final set would come down to the end, as GWU took the first lead of the game at 3-1 on an Anderson kill then saw PC storm back to take a three point lead at 9-6 on a Hall spike to force a Runnin' Bulldog timeout.
Following the timeout, GWU picked up a kill from Holte and then took advantage of two PC errors and another spike from Starr to tie the decisive set up at 10-10 and force a Presbyterian timeout.
The Lady Blue Hose answered with a 4-1 run to take a 14-11 lead and serve for match point.
Gardner-Webb had other plans, as Starr recorded a key to fend off the first match point and put the score at 14-12 in favor of the Lady Blue Hose.
After a PC error put the score at 14-13, GWU's Anderson pounded the ball into the court on the next rally to tie the set up at 14-14 to force a second Presbyterian timeout.
With the momentum clearly on GWU's side, the Runnin' Bulldogs scored the next two points, one on a block from Murphy and Holte and the final point on a kill from Holte to give the home team the 16-14 set win and the 3-2 match victory.
As a team, GWU recorded 106 digs, which ranks as the fifth most in GWU's Division I history, while the Runnin' Bulldogs edged PC 62-61 in kills.
Both Gardner-Webb (11-10, 3-1 Big South) and Presbyterian (5-14, 3-1 Big South) will return to action tomorrow afternoon, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will host Winthrop at 2 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena, while the Lady Blue Hose will remain on the road to take on UNC Asheville at 4 p.m. in the Justice Center.
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| Box Score: Gardner-Webb 3, Presbyterian 2 |
