University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
High Point
Volleyball Wins Fourth-Straight at High Point - UNC Asheville Bulldogs Official Athletics Site
01.01.1970 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 3, 2006
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Three UNC Asheville players recorded double figures in kills to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-1 Big South Conference victory at High Point Tuesday night. Asheville won the match, 29-31, 30-28, 30-21, 30-17.
Big South Co-Player of the Week Elif Unlu recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 18 kills and 22 digs. Ashley Wrightenberry had 14 kills and five blocks while Lauren Ficker added 11 kills and three service aces for the Bulldogs. The win was Asheville's fourth straight and improved its record to 6-12 and 4-0 in the Big South. The victory vaulted the Bulldogs into first place in the league, one game ahead of defending BSC champ Winthrop (3-0).
"This is a big win for us on the road," said Asheville head coach Julie Torbett. "We made some adjustments after the first game and really got our middle attack involved. Elif had another great match but our middles were the difference tonight. We continue to mature as a team with every match and to win a conference match on the road is always huge."
The two teams battled back-and-forth at the start of game one with both squads holding slight leads. High Point eventually grabbed the momentum taking a 21-17 advantage. UNC Asheville scored the next five points to retake the lead followed by a four-point HPU spurt putting the Panthers back in front. The Bulldogs took a 29-28 edge and served for the game one victory but High Point got kills from Jamie Kaufman and Ashley Johnson and an Asheville error to score the final three points.
UNC Asheville surged ahead midway through game two opening up a nine-point advantage at 24-15. Johnson then went back to the service line for the Panthers and ran off seven straight points to close the margin to just two points. The Bulldogs held a 29-25 lead but HPU fought off three game points before Alysha Greer put away one of her six kills to tie the match at a game apiece.
The Bulldogs came out of the gates quickly in the third stanza scoring seven of the first eight points on their way to a 12-4 lead. High Point struggled offensively and would get no closer than five points the rest of the game. Asheville connected at a match-high .385 clip in the game recording 19 kills with just four errors while HPU hit .200.
In the fourth game, HPU again had problems with offensive consistency posting a -.082 hitting percentage. Asheville scored the first five points of the frame and built a double-digit advantage at 20-10. High Point tried to rally late but was unable to overcome the deficit.
Big South Co-Player of the Week, Kaufman led a quartet of HPU players in double-digit kills finishing with 17. Johnson and freshman Megan Kaminskas both posted season high 12 kills while Audie Gonzalez chipped in 10. Lauren Hatch tallied 21 digs to top the Panther defenders. Gonzalez had 17 digs and Kaufman had 13 to record double-double performances on the night. Kristina Taylor also posted a double-double dishing out 56 assists and picking up 14 digs.
Asheville's Raquel Miotto led all players with 26 digs while setter Kaitlyn McDaniel had a double-double with 50 assists and 16 digs.
The Bulldogs battle for first place in the conference on Friday night as they travel to Winthrop for a 7 p.m. match.
