University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
USC Upstate
UNC Asheville Blocks Upstate in Five Games
11.08.2007 | Women's Volleyball
Lauren Ficker had a career-high eight blocks and UNC Asheville placed five players in double figure kills for a come from behind 30-23, 27-30, 17-30, 30-19, 15-11 victory at USC Upstate Thursday night.
Kelsey Benorden had a match-high 21 kills. Ficker had 16 kills and Ashley Wrightenberry had 12 kills and two blocks to move four away from the school record in block assists. Alysha Greer had 11 kills and Heather Burns had 10 kills. Raquel Miotto added a match-high 28 digs as the Bulldogs improve to 10-21 on the season.
"It is nice to win in five," said Asheville head coach Julie Torbett. "This is the first time we have won in five games and that helps us know that we can win close matches. Lauren (Ficker) had a great match tonight and I thought she and Ashley (Wrightenberry) really came through when we needed them."
Upstate (11-17) was led by Jesicah Ambrisco with 18 kills and Katie Downey added 17 kills. Tijana Knezevic led the Spartans with 18 digs.
The Bulldogs came out strong in game one hitting .395 for the game. Benorden had six kills in the opener as Asheville forced an Upstate timeout at 14-7. The Bulldogs had their largest lead of the game at 25-15. Upstate had a short run near the end of the opener but Alysha Greer hammered down game point to give the Dogs the 30-23 victory. Upstate hit just .054 in the first game.
Upstate came out strong in game two building a 12-6 lead. Wrightenberry's first block of the match pulled Asheville to within 15-12 forcing an Upstate timeout. The Bulldogs tied the game at 17 but Upstate retook the lead with two-straight points. The Spartans had game point at 29-26. Benorden had a kills to pull to within three but an overpass and a kill from Downey leveled the match at a game a piece. Upstate hit .386 in the second game and Asheville committed four serving errors in the game.
The Bulldogs hit just .022 in game three while Upstate hit .275 while siding out 88 percent of the time. Leading 6-5, Upstate went on a 4-0 run to lead 10-5 and never looked back winning 30-17.
Asheville gathered some emotion between games three and four. The Dogs came out hot in the fourth game jumping out to a 10-5 lead and continued to lead at 21-10 forcing Upstate to call both of its time outs. The Spartans came out of the time out with a 6-1 run but Asheville restored order and rebuilt a 10-point lead on a block by Ficker and Burns at 27-17. Ficker and Benorden combined on a block on game point to force game five for just the third time this season.
In the deciding game, the Dogs scored the first two points but saw Upstate score four-straight to take the lead but the Bulldogs got the switch at 8-7. The Dogs led 12-9 as the Spartans used their final timeout. Ficker had a kill to give Asheville match-point at 14-10, but the Bulldogs 13th service error kept Upstate alive. Benorden then put down the final ball to give Asheville it first five-game victory of the season.
The Bulldogs return home to celebrate Senior Day on Saturday as they face Presbyterian in a 2 p.m. match.
