CLEMSON, S.C. – Playing in its second weekend tournament of the regular season, Gardner-Webb closed out play at the Clemson Invitational on Saturday with a pair of matches from Jervey Gymansium, the home of the ACC's Tigers.
The Runnin' Bulldogs opened the day with a morning loss to an undefeated Jacksonville State team (18-25, 14-25, 14-25) before returning for a nightcap, a three-set victory for Clemson (23-25, 12-15, 20-25).
"We need to continue to grow. We had times when we were playing high-level volleyball, but we just were not able to maintain it all the way through the set," said head coach
Eric Plunkett. "We learned the hard way to be consistent and compete until the end as we struggled to close out sets. After our postgame team chat, I believe this team is motivated and driven to bring it this week in practice and go into next weekend with a consistent competitive mindset."
Coming off five-set wins over both The Citadel and Clemson, Jacksonville State (6-0) was unable to gain an early edge on Gardner-Webb as the Dawgs held onto a trio of three-point leads over the Gamecocks in the early going.
After leading 6-3, GWU held onto a control of the first game up until an 11-11 score, but the advantage was unable to be sustained as JSU rattled off a 7-1 run en route to an eventual seven-point victory in set one. The Gamecocks then maintained control throughout the remainder of action, taking both sets two and three to seal a win.
Overall, Gardner-Webb hit .067 for the match and was led by eight kills from
Avery Cole and six from
Kylee Garrison.
Tori Weatherley registered 13 assists, while Garrison and
Sophia Bolden added 10 and eight digs, respectively.
Delaney McCullough also posted a team-high three blocks.
Checking back in the final of three Clemson Invitational matches later in the evening, the Runnin' Bulldogs gave the Tigers all that they could handle in two of three sets on the night. GWU led by as many as three in the opening game, 12-9, and trailed by as many as six before a late charge evened the score at 23-23. Clemson was able to close things out late, however, taking the next two points to come out on top in the first frame.
Ultimately, despite big efforts from
Mikayla Logan (eight kills, three blocks), Garrison (eight kills, seven digs) and Cole (six kills), Clemson earned a set-two win before fending off another Runnin' Bulldogs push in the third game. McCullough added another three blocks for GWU, tied for a team-high with
Emma Cross, who also tacked on four kills. McCullough also added a team-leading two service aces.
McKenna Timmerman also posted three kills, four digs and two blocks in a well-rounded effort.
Gardner-Webb will return to action next weekend with another tournament, this time the Bellarmine University Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. The Runnin' Bulldogs will open with a pair of matches on Friday, September 9, beginning with a morning matchup against IUPUI at 10 a.m. before returning later in the evening for a 7 p.m. meeting with Bellarmine.
