LYNCHBURG, Va. --- Senior Tyler Cockrell (Tulsa, Okla.) paced Gardner-Webb with nine kills Saturday to move into third on the program's all-time list, as the Liberty Flames outlasted the Runnin' Bulldogs in a hard-fought straight set victory in Big South Conference play.
Liberty (23-9, 10-4 Big South) won the match by scores of 25-21, 25-19 and 26-25, attacking at a .158 clip while holding Gardner-Webb(12-20, 5-9 Big South) to a hitting percentage of .126. The Flames held a 62-49 advantage in digs as Gardner-Webb recorded 10 blocks to Liberty's five.
"There are no excuses for our play today," said head coach Leo Sayles. "We had a golden opportunity to finish with a win and instead took ourselves out of each set with poor individual execution and poor focus. I feel bad for our seniors, who poured themselves into this season. We have short turnaround to find our focus and pull ourselves together before our conference tourney."
Cockrell led the way with nine kills for the Runnin' Bulldogs, while Tyra Montour (Kennsaw, Ga.) added seven smashes. Devin Judge (Marietta, Ga.) and Brianna Starr (Blue Springs, Mo.) chipped in five and four smashes, respectively, as Anna Pashkova (Iowa City, Iowa) tallied 22 digs. Heather Feldman (Eden, N.Y.) dished out 28 assists to go along with six digs and four blocks as Cockrell posted a match-high five blocks.
Jade Vorster paced the Flames with 14 kills and a .385 hitting percentage, as Gabrielle Vess and Calla Stapleton added eight and six kills, respectively. Gabrielle Shipe and Haley Jeffcoat tallied 18 and 13 digs, respectively, while Stapleton dished out a match-high 30 assists.
The teams battled throughout the first set, with Gardner-Webb snatching a 14-12 lead on the back of a 3-0 spurt before Liberty countered with an 8-5 run to take a narrow 20-19 advantage. The Flames keptpushing over the next several points, recording five of the final seven points to take a 1-0 lead in the match on a Vess kill.
Liberty carried the momentum into the second, opening the frame with a 7-4 run before pushing the margin to 14-8 on a smash by Nzea McQuitery. Gardner-Webb would fight back, closing the gap to 19-17 on an ace from Starr to cap a 9-5 spurt. The Flames then quickly countered with a 6-2run, closing out the set and taking a 2-0 advantage in the match following an ace by Jeffcoat.
The teams traded runs in the early moments of the third, with Gardner-Webb answering a 4-0 spurt with a 6-3 run of its own to close the gap to 7-6 on a kill by Kaelyn Dyson (Holly Springs, N.C.). The Flames answered quickly with an 11-5 surge, widening the margin to 18-11 with a smash from Vess.
The Runnin' Bulldogs wasted little time in replying, cutting the lead to 18-17 with six straight points which included a pair of emphatic blocks, first from Starr and Dyson before Dyson and Sydney Marshall (Norcross, Ga.) capped the run. Gardner-Webb would continue battling, evening the score at 20-20 and fighting off two set points before a Melissa Racz kill and a combo block by Racz and Stapleton capped the frame and the match for Liberty.
Gardner-Webb now awaits the announcement of the final pairings for next week's Big South Conference Tournament. Pairings will be announced later this weekend.
