Gardner-Webb Suffers 3-2 Road Defeat Against Presbyterian in Big South Play Saturday
November 09, 2013 | Volleyball
Clinton, S.C. - Three Runnin' Bulldogs' recorded double-digit kills, including 16 apiece from seniors Erin Anderson and Emily Holte, but a rally by Presbyterian allowed the Blue Hose to storm back for a 3-2 win in late-season Big South play on Saturday.
Gardner-Webb (15-15, 6-6 Big South) dropped its third straight match, each against Big South competition, as a 2-1 advantage after the third set melted away against a rally by Presbyterian (8-20, 6-6 Big South).
Presbyterian took control early, winning the first set 25-21 only to see Gardner-Webb garner the momentum of the match by taking set number two, winning the second frame by a 25-17 margin. The Runnin' Bulldogs carried the momentum forward, capturing set three 25-22.
The Blue Hose responded, battling back to edge GWU in the fourth set (25-23) as well as pull away in the tiebreak (15-9) to come away with a key Big South win, 3-2.
Attack errors in the opening set netted Runnin' Bulldogs' first 4 points, while three GWU errors and a kill by Rachel Hall opened the scoring for Presbyterian in a 4-4 score in set one. A kill by Anderson (Orlando, Fla.) off a set from Heather Feldman (Eden, N.Y.) gave GWU the lead briefly at 5-4, but two more GWU errors enabled Presbyterian to take the lead at 6-5.
Sophomore Tyra Montour (Kennesaw, Ga.) recorded the first of her 14 kills a GWU run that also saw Feldman record a kill to get the score to 10-7 in favor of Gardner-Webb. Presbyterian would respond with a 5-0 run of its own to re-capture the lead at 12-10.
Three straight Gardner-Webb points pushed the lead back to the side of the road team, as kills by Montour and Anderson as well as a block from Feldman and Montour gave GWU a 13-12 advantage midway through the opening frame. However Presbyterian, sparked by a kill by Hallee Tripp, would go on a 4-1 run as the back-and-forth play continued.
Another Feldman kill, as well as blocks by Amanda Murphy/Holte and Murphy/Anderson, evened the score with GWU rattling off three straight points again to get the score to 17-17. Presbyterian responded with four kills in its next four points to counter two kills by Holte during that span and take a 21-20 lead over Gardner-Webb.
Presbyterian would close the first set on a 4-1 push, ended by back-to-back kills by Kelly Berryman off of Ashtin Frank assists to put the Blue Hose on top 1-0 after set one.
An early 5-0 run to open set two set Gardner-Webb up for success. To jump out to the 5-0 lead, GWU got a service ace from libero Anna Pashkova, a kill by Holte, and blocks from Murphy/Anderson and Feldman/Murphy.
The Runnin' Bulldogs offset two kills from Rachel Hall, as well as one from Lena Gavin, to race out to an 11-3 lead. Anderson finished off a kill off a set from Feldman to start the run, and Montour took an assist from Feldman for the kill to finish it and put GWU on top 11-3 in the second set.
After Gardner-Webb extended its lead to 16-6 after another Anderson kill (Feldman assist), Presbyterian rattled off four straight points to cut GWU's lead to 16-10 in set two, prompting a timeout call from head coach Leo Sayles. The move paid off, as GWU methodically attacked the Blue Hose defense and finished the set off of kills from Montour (Feldman assist) and Feldman (Brianna Starrr assist) to even the match at 1-1.
GWU's offensive versatility was displayed early in set three with five different Runnin' Bulldogs recording kills, all off of assists by the GWU setter Feldman, to help give Gardner-Webb the third set lead at 7-5. Murphy (Alvin, Texas) got the scoring started, Holte aimed a kill past the PC defense to cut the deficit to 4-3, Brianna Starr (Blue Springs, Mo.) recorded a kill to even the score at 4-4, Montour tied the score again after her kill at 5-5, and Anderson pushed GWU's lead to 7-5 after an attack error had given the Runnin' Bulldogs its first lead of the third set.
GWU rolled with the momentum into a 3-1 run from there to get the lead to 10-6. After a PC timeout stopped the Runnin' Bulldogs' scoring streak, the Blue Hose used two kills by Tripp to pull within a point at 11-10, only to see rattle off three straight points off of kills from Anderson, Holte, and Murphy to put Gardner-Webb in front 15-11.
A Presbyterian 3-0 run put pressure on the Runnin' Bulldogs, but the road team responded with a 4-1 push of its own, highlighted by an service ace from Holte (Prior Lake, Minn.) as well as kills from Montour and Starr, putting GWU up 19-15.
A key kill by Anderson countered a short PC run to push GWU's advantage to 22-19 and enabled the Runnin' Bulldogs to get Emily Steele into the match at a crucial point. The freshman from Greenville, N.C. delivered with a key serve, and Holte spiked home a kill off Feldman's set later in the point to give the Runnin' Bulldogs much needed cushion at 23-19.
After Gavin's kill pulled Presbyterian within 23-21, Holte and Montour finished off Feldman assists to drive home a third set win, 25-22, and take control of the match with a 2-1 advantage in sets won.
The Blue Hose opened with a 3-1 run to open the first set, but Gardner-Webb would storm back to recapture the momentum of the match. Sparked by Murphy's kill off an assist from Feldman, the Runnin' Bulldogs would go on a 7-1 run culminated in a service ace from Anderson to take the fourth set lead at 8-4.
Presybterian would begin to chip away at that lead, cutting the deficit to 10-9 after Berryman's kill. Gardner-Webb countered with four straight points, giving GWU a solid 14-9 lead after a PC timeout.
The Blue Hose came out of the timeout with three straight points to cut into GWU's lead, and ended a 7-3 run with a kill from Hall with Gardner-Webb hanging on to a 17-16 lead. Back-to-back kills from Andrea Barman gave Presbyterian its first lead in the fourth set since 3-2, with the Blue Hose on top 19-18 briefly until a kill by Montour evened the score at 19-19.
Presbyterian was able to piece together a crucial 3-0 run to take the lead at 23-20. GWU fought back with a 3-0 run of its own to get the match scoring within one point at 24-23 in favor of the Blue Hose, but a kill from Rachel Hall ended GWU's attempt at a late fourth set rally and gave PC a 25-23 win in the fourth frame to force a tie-breaking fifth set.
Presbyterian was able to further its momentum early as Gardner-Webb was put into a 5-1 hole to open the fifth set. A kill by Montour and a timely block from the combination of Starr and Montour got GWU within a point at 6-5, but Presbyterian responded with a 6-2 run to take a commanding 12-7 lead in the fifth set. The Blue Hose would finish out the set with three straight points to come away with a 15-9 win in the final frame to secure the overall match victory.
Anderson (16 kills, 17%), Holte (14 kills, 30%), and Montour (14 kills, 54%) led Gardner-Webb offensively. Feldman dished out 51 assists for the Runnin' Bulldogs overall, and Pashkova led the way defensively with 22 digs from her libero position.
Gardner-Webb will look to bounce back from the tough road defeat with another Big South matchup on the way. The Runnin' Bulldogs host Radford on Friday, November 15 at 7:00 p.m.
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