Freshmen Duo of Starr and Lillard Lead 'Dogs to 3-0 Win Over Davidson
October 09, 2013 | Volleyball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - Gardner-Webb rode the right arms of freshmen Brianna Starr and Taylor Lillard to win its fourth straight match and remain unbeaten at home with a 3-0 straight set win over Davidson Tuesday night in Paul Porter Arena.
GWU defeated Davidson 25-17, 25-20 and 25-22 to move to 10-10 overall and remain undefeated at 4-0 at home in Paul Porter Arena, while the loss drops the Wildcats to 11-7 on the year.
Gardner-Webb extended its winning streak to four straight matches, the longest winning streak for the Runnin' Bulldogs since the 2007 squad posted six straight wins midway through the season.
Starr led the charge for GWU with a match-high 16 kills and 13 digs, while Lillard chipped in off the bench with 11 kills and a .588 attack percentage overall. Setter Heather Feldman dished out 32 set assists, while libero Anna Pashkova tallied a match-high 17 digs.
For Davidson, Taylor Pisel led the way with 11 kills and a .588 attack percentage, while libero Anastasia Owen recorded 15 digs. Senior Caroline Brown had three aces to go along with six kills and eight digs, while setter Mikayla Derochie totaled 30 set assists on the night.
The first set proved to be tight from start to finish, as after GWU took a 4-2 lead on a Davidson attack error, the visiting Wildcats clawed its way back into the set with a 7-4 run to tie the frame up at 9-9 on a kill from Emily Franklin.
Back-to-back kills from GWU's Erin Anderson pushed the home team back out in front by two at 11-9 and set the tone over the next several rallies as the Runnin' Bulldogs held off the Wildcats to extend its lead to four at 19-15 on a Feldman service ace.
Out of a Davidson timeout, GWU outscored Davidson 2-1, by way of two straight kills from senior middle blocker Amanda Murphy, to force the Wildcats to take its second timeout minutes later.
The timeout did not slow down GWU, as the Runnin' Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 5-2 to pull away for the 25-17 win.
Up 1-0 in the match, the Runnin' Bulldogs struggled out of the gates to start the second set, falling behind to Davidson 9-4 on a Taylor Pisel kill.
On the next play, GWU's Lillard posted a kill to stop a 4-0 Davidson run and attempt to kick start the Runnin' Bulldog offense which remained close to the Wildcats at 14-11 on a Davidson attack error.
Two kills from both Starr and Lillard apiece, as well as two Davidson errors, allowed the Runnin' Bulldogs to storm back and tie the set up at 17-17 and force a Davidson timeout.
GWU came out of the timeout with a 5-1 run to take a 22-18 en route to a 25-20 second set win, which was capped off by back-to-back attack errors by the Wildcats' offense.
Looking to win in straight sets, GWU ran out to a 4-1 lead to start the third set on another kill from Lillard, only to see Davidson answer with four straight points to take a 5-4 lead on a Rachel Earnhardt.
Gardner-Webb refused to go away, as a kill from Starr tied the set up at 5-5 and began a 9-3 run by the Runnin' Bulldogs who pulled out to a 13-8 lead on a Pashkova service ace.
After Davidson tied the match up at 13-13 on a GWU attack error and then retook the lead at 14-13 on a Brown service ace, the Runnin' Bulldogs scored the next to points off of kills from Murphy and Lillard to retake the lead at 15-14.
It was then the Wildcats' turn for a small rally, as Davidson got back-to-back kills from Brown to give them the lead back at 16-15.
The two teams went back-and-forth over the next several rallies until a GWU service error followed by an attack error pushed the Wildcats out in front by two at 21-19.
Following a GWU timeout, the Runnin' Bulldogs got back-to-back kills from sophomore Tyra Montour to tie the frame up at 21-21 and then saw Lillard spike three straight balls into Davidson's side of the court to push the home team in front by two at 24-22.
A Feldman kill on set point gave GWU the 25-22 set win and the 3-0 match victory.
As a team, GWU hit .355 overall for the match, posting 52 kills and only 13 attack errors in the win.
Gardner-Webb (10-10, 2-1 Big South) will remain at home for conference play this weekend, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will host Presbyterian College at 7 p.m. on Friday night and the Winthrop Lady Eagles at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
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| Box Score: Gardner-Webb 3, Davidson 0 |
