BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team (8-11, 1-3 Big South) suffered a tough home loss on Friday night, falling 3-0 to visiting UNC Asheville (6-11, 3-1 Big South) in Big South Conference action
The visitors came out swinging on Friday night, putting Gardner-Webb in a quick 2-0 hole. UNC Asheville stormed out to a 25-14 win in the first set, dominated the second set 25-18, and despite an excellent late rally from Gardner-Webb, closed out the third 28-26.
UNC Asheville never trailed in set one, jumping in front 4-0 from the jump. GWU rallied to within a point a couple of different times, but five straight points down the stretch put things out of reach. For the Runnin' Bulldogs, redshirt junior outside hitter
Serena Kohler led with four early kills.
GWU grabbed its first lead of the night in the second set, quickly into the lead 4-2. Kohler continued a good individual night, once again set up by sophomore setter
Olivia Lefebvre. The set turned the way of UNC Asheville in the middle, with the Bulldogs using a 6-1 run to take the lead for good. UNC Asheville also closed with the final five points of the set. In the second, Gardner-Webb got big contributions off the bench from freshman middle
Brookelynn Nance and redshirt freshman right side
Alexis Maesch, who each had a kill.
The third set proved to have most of the night's drama, with a 28-26 final score and a Gardner-Webb rally from down as many as seven. UNC Asheville was out in front 12-5 early on, before the Dawgs climbed back with a 4-0 run, led by sophomore outside hitter
Isabel Sandstrum with two kills. Freshman middle
Tatiana Besu also posted a huge set, coming off the bench to notch two kills and two blocks in her only set played of the night. Gardner-Webb twice got to set point, ahead 24-23 and 26-25, but three straight points by UNC Asheville finished off the match, with Gardner-Webb falling 3-0.
LEADERS
Kohler, Sandstrum and sophomore outside hitter
Samia Sayd led the Runnin' Bulldogs with six kills each, Lefebvre continued a great individual start to Big South play with a team-high 23 assists, and graduate libero
Nalani McBride recorded a team-high 18 digs
UP NEXT
The Big South weekend continues inside Paul Porter Arena at 2 pm on Saturday, with GWU hosting USC Upstate for Senior Day
