BOILING SPRINGS – Playing in the back half of a back-to-back on Friday night, Gardner-Webb was unable to overcome a strong outing from Campbell, falling in three sets in its second Big South Conference match of the season.
The Camels (5-8; 1-0) earned set wins of 25-18 and 25-19, respectively, before holding off a late GWU charge to take set three, 25-23.
"Today was a tough battle against a good Campbell team," said head coach
Eric Plunkett. "I thought we had a strong game plan against most of their attackers, but we just couldn't figure out how to slow down their middle. All in all, today we saw a positive response to a poor match Thursday night. We just need to continue to work on our consistency in play and in decisions."
After dropping the first game, Gardner-Webb (2-12; 0-2) controlled much of set two. The Dawgs opened a lead of as many as six points, 9-3, and later maintained a 18-16 edge while nearing the final stages before Campbell battled back with a 9-1 run to close things out.
Looking to extend the match to a fourth game, Gardner-Webb pressed once again in a third frame that featured eight ties and three lead changes. A
McKenna Timmerman kill gave the Runnin' Bulldogs a 15-14 lead, followed later by a kill from
Avery Cole to make it 19-18 in favor of the home team, but the Camels once again closed strong despite a late 4-1 run by GWU.
Gardner-Webb posted a .160 clip with 36 kills, led by a career-high 12 from Timmerman. The freshman had a strong night throughout, hitting .321 on 28 attacks with two blocks. Cole tallied nine kills,
Kylee Garrison seven, and
Mikayla Logan five along with a team-high three blocks.
Another pair of freshmen also stood out for the Dawgs, with
Morgan Hornaday dishing out 27 assists with eight digs, two blocks and two kills, and
Sophia Kotsovolos earning the start and logging 18 digs, a new career high.
Following the first two home matches of the season, Gardner-Webb will briefly hit the road once again when it travels down the road to Spartanburg, S.C. to face off against USC Upstate on Thursday, September 29. First serve is slated for 6 p.m.
