University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Birmingham-Southern
Volleyball Wins Ninth-Straight at BSC - UNC Asheville Bulldogs Official Athletics Site
01.01.1970 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 24, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior libero Krysti Havens had a match-high 23 digs to put her over 1,000 career digs and Elif Unlu led the Bulldogs with 19 kills and 11 digs as UNC Asheville set a school record winning its ninth straight match 3-1 at Birmingham-Southern in its Big South opener on Saturday.
The Bulldogs broke the 2003 team's record of eight straight wins with a 30-27, 29-31, 30-17, 30-22, victory to move to 11-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big South, while the Panthers drop to 6-7 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
"Birmingham-Southern is a good team and this is a tough place to win but I thought we did a great job of controlling the tempo," said UNC Asheville head coach Julie Torbett. "We matched up Allison Lambert with Jana Smelley and Allison did a great job blocking. That forced them to go to the right side and we played very well defensively for the second-straight match. It is always big when you can get a conference win on the road."
Asheville jumped out to take the lead in game one and kept the advantage until BSC tied it up at the 20-20 mark. The teams played to six ties after that up until 26-26, after which the Bulldogs went 4-1 to win on a kill from Unlu.
The Bulldogs took the lead again in game two before the Panthers rallied down the stretch to tie it up at 29-29 before winning on a service ace from senior Jana Smelley.
UNCA came out strong in games three and four, never trailing in either game and winning, 30-17 and 30-22, to clinch the match.
Unlu led the Bulldogs with 19 kills and only six errors for a .325 attack percentage recording her ninth double-double in the first 12 matches of the season. Senior Talia Ogle also posted a double-double with 15 kills and 19 digs, and setter Amanda Wiles recorded her first triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 43 assists, and 12 digs.
Senior Megan Murphy was also in double digits with 12 digs. Senior Allison Lambert and sophomore Ashley Wrightenberry led all players with six blocks apiece.
Senior Lillian Henderson led BSC with 15 kills, and junior Andra Krautmanis posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 17 digs. Senior Jana Smelley also recorded a double-double, her ninth of the season, with 12 kills and 13 digs, as did freshman Kelsey King with 57 assists and 14 digs.
Senior Cassie Reed led the squad with a .323 attack percentage on 12 kills and only two errors, and freshman Alex Plummer led the defense with 21 digs. Reed and Henderson also posted three blocks apiece. For the match, UNCA out-hit BSC, .238 to .139, and posted 12 total blocks as compared to BSC's seven.
Asheville will wrap up its three-match road trip with a Sept. 27 date at Gardner-Webb. The Bulldogs return home on Friday to face Charleston Southern at 7 p.m. in the Justice Center. The CSU match will be broadcast on www.uncabulldogs.com
