ASHEVILLE, N.C. --- Senior Tyler Cockrell (Tulsa, Okla.) collected a match-high 19 kills, and Anna Pashkova (Iowa City, Iowa) added 26 digs to lead Gardner-Webb to a hard-fought five set victory over UNC Asheville on Friday evening in Big South Conference play, as the Runnin' Bulldogs swept the season series with the Bulldogs.
Gardner-Webb (10-13, 3-3 Big South) won the match by scores of 25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 14-25 and 15-13, holding UNC Asheville (4-17, 1-5 Big South) to a .173 clip on the attack while recording 73 digs and six blocks.
"After the adventure we had on the way to asheville, this was a very sweet victory for the team," said head coach Leo Sayles. "Asheville fought well and did a great job controlling the match after we got up 2-0. I am very proud of the fighting spirit on this team, they had to slug it out to the last point."
Cockrell led the way for Gardner-Webb with 19 kills and two blocks, while Montour tallied 14 smashes and a .394 hitting percentage. Brianna Starr (Blue Springs, Mo.) turned in a double-double with 12 kills and 17 digs, as Heather Feldman (Eden, N.Y.) added a double-double of her own with 12 digs and a match-high 47 assists. Pashkova recorded a contest-best 26 digs for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Christine Lakatos and Shelby Erickson paced UNC Asheville with 14 kills each, as Madison Vaughn chipped in 11 smashes and a .381 hitting percentage. Katie Davis dished out 42 assists for the Bulldogs, while Lakatos and Bryn Pfieffer tallied 25 and 19 digs, respectively.
Asheville jumped out to an early 5-3 lead in the first set before Gardner-Webb responded, claiming an 11-10 advantage on a Cockrell kill on the heels of an 8-5 spurt. The Runnin' Bulldogs would push the margin to 16-11 before Asheville answered, cutting the lead to 17-16 with a 5-1 spurt that was capped by an Erickson kill.
Gardner-Webb quickly countered with another 8-5 run, regaining control and closing out the set with back-to-back kills from Starr and Cockrell to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Bulldogs fought back in the second, scoring eight of the frame's first 12 points to claim an early 8-4 advantage. Gardner-Webb wasted little time in responding, regaining the momentum with an 11-4 surge to take a 15-12 lead following a pair of Asheville miscues.
Asheville would battle back once again, trimming the margin to 22-20 on an Erickson smash before knotting the score at 23-23. The Runnin' Bulldogs responded with back-to-back points, taking a 2-0 lead in the match following an emphatic put back smash by Starr.
UNC Asheville answered the call in the third, breaking an 8-8 deadlock with an 8-1 run to claim a 16-9 advantage on a tandem block by Vaughn and Lakatos. The Runnin' Bulldogs would respond with a run of their own, cutting the lead to 20-17 with a Montour smash to cap an 8-4 spurt before trimming it further to 21-19.
Asheville quickly countered with four of the next six points, halving the Gardner-Webb lead to 2-1 in the match following a kill by Erickson to close out the set. The Bulldogs would carry the momentum into the fourth, snapping a 5-5 stalemate with a 13-5 run to take a commanding 18-10 lead in the set. Asheville would close out the set from there, forcing a deciding fifth frame with a 25-14 win in the fourth that was capped by a Davis kill.
The Runnin' Bulldogs answered early in the fifth, taking a 7-3 lead with back-to-back kills from Cockrell before pushing the margin to 8-3 on an Asheville miscue. The Bulldogs quickly countered with a 7-2 spurt, evening the tally at 10-10 before taking their first lead of the set on an Erickson smash.
After Gardner-Webb countered with back-to-back points and Asheville answered with three of its own to knot the score at 13-13, the Runnin' Bulldogs went for the kill, pushing Asheville to match point on a Bulldog miscue before Kaelyn Dyson (Holly Springs, N.C.) sealed the victory with an emphatic solo block.
Gardner-Webb is back in action on Friday, October 24 when the Runnin' Bulldogs host Coastal Carolina at 7:00 p.m. in a crucial Big South showdown in Paul Porter Arena.
