Runnin' Bulldogs Falter at Home in 3-1 Loss to High Point
November 03, 2013 | Volleyball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team struggled with consistency on Saturday evening, as the Runnin' Bulldogs fell to the High Point Panthers 3-1 in Big South action on a "Black Out" in Paul Porter Arena.
The Runnin' Bulldogs were defeated 12-25, 25-16, 16-25 and 22-25 by the Panthers on Saturday.
The loss drops GWU to 15-13 overall and 6-4 in the Big South, while with the win High Point improves to 12-13 overall and 6-4 in League play.
GWU's Erin Anderson, Brianna Starr and Emily Holte all tallied seven kills apiece, while middle blockers Amanda Murphy and Tyra Montour chipped in with six and seven kills each in the loss. Montour posted five solo blocks and three block assists at the net for the Runnin' Bulldogs, while setter Heather Feldman dished out 31 assists and libero Anna Pashkova picked up 18 digs.
The five solo blocks and three block assists pushed Montour's season total to 103 on the year.
Kristin Heldt's 18 kills and three service aces led High Point, while Chelsea Davis and Katie Vincent added 14 and 10 kills apiece in the win. Annemarie Chin and Wavie Chin recorded 21 and 14 digs each, respectively, while setter Maddie Simpson had a match-high 45 set assists on the night.
Notorious for slow starts, the Runnin' Bulldogs fell behind early in the first set at 10-5 on a Heldt service ace and was forced to use an early timeout.
Three straight points by GWU out of the break put the score at 10-8 in favor of the Panthers, however, 9-1 run by the Panthers allowed the visitors to take a double digit lead at 19-9 on a Savannah Angel kill.
A Starr kill ended the High Point run, yet GWU would score only two more times down the stretch to fall to the Panthers 25-12 in the first set.
The second set looked as if it would start out much like the first, at High Point took a 2-0 lead on back-to-back GWU errors, only this time the Runnin' Bulldogs answered with a 7-1 run, capped off by four straight High Point miscues, to put the home team on top by five at 8-3.
After trading points over the next several rallies, GWU again took advantage of a series of High Point mistakes to push its lead out to eight at 15-7 and force a Panther timeout.
The middles for GWU had an answer for every High Point point, as Montour and Murphy combined for three kills over the next several plays to keep the home team on top by seven at 18-11.
Following a Gardner-Webb service error, which put the score at 18-12, the home team finished the set out with a 7-4 scoring edge to hold on for the 25-16 second set win.
With the match tied up at one set apiece, GWU looked to take its first match lead with a win in the third set, however, the Panthers had other ideas, again using a strong start to take a 10-5 lead to start the frame.
Gardner-Webb attempted to regroup with a timeout, yet saw three straight points by the Panthers jump-start a 10-5 run by the visitors who took a double digit lead at 20-10 on a Heldt kill.
The deficit proved to be too much for the home team, as GWU got kills from Starr, Murphy and Holte, yet could not make up the difference in a 25-16 third set loss.
GWU took an early lead at 4-2 on a Holte kill to start the fourth set and appeared poised to tie the match up once more, however, a 4-2 run by the Panthers tied the game up at 6-6 on a Davis kill.
The Runnin' Bulldogs refused to let go of the lead however, as a spike by Starr and a block by Montour kept the home team in front by one until a Heldt kill, a Heldt service ace and a Katie Vincent spike pushed the Panthers in front once more at 11-10.
Gardner-Webb tied the set up at 11-11, 12-12 and 13-13, but couldn't put together a series of points to retake the lead as a 3-0 run by High Point gave the Panthers some breathing room at 16-13.
Again GWU battled back to tie the set up at 18-18, 19-19 and then again at 21-21 on two straight kills from Holte, only this time, High Point answered with kills from Vincent, Heldt and Davis to hold off the home team for the 25-22 fourth set win and the 3-1 match victory.
As a team, GWU posted 11 team blocks to the Panthers' seven, however, High Point held a 5-1 advantage in service aces and 55-33 in kills.
Gardner-Webb (15-13, 6-4 Big South) will hit the road for one final time next weekend, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will take on both Winthrop and Presbyterian over the Big South Conference weekend.
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| Box Score: High Point 3, Gardner-Webb 1 |
