University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
East Tennessee State
ETSU Holds Off UNC Asheville Volleyball 3-2
10.20.2009 | Women's Volleyball
ETSU (7-13) was led by McKayla Barber with 15 kills. Whitney Cogburn and Alysa Long added 11 kills each, while Amanda Youell and Desiree Dyck finished with 10 kills apiece. Erin Ryan chipped in nine kills.
The Bulldogs (18-7) were led by Kelsey Benorden with 19 kills and 10 digs. It was her 11th double-double of the year. Lauren Ficker finished with 10 kills and four blocks. Raquel Miotto sparked the defense with a match-high 24 digs. In the process, the senior libero moved into fifth place on the NCAA's all-time career list for digs. She now has 2,464 digs.
In the fifth set, ETSU went on an 8-2 run early to grab an 8-4 lead and never let go to win the match. The Bucs got kills from five different players in the run plus a service ace from Lauren Baufield.
Asheville kept battling and crept to 13-11 on a service ace from Miotto. A kill from Youell got the Bucs to match point at 14-11. The Bulldogs got one more kill from Benorden to close to 14-12.
At 14-12, Jen Neice sent a free ball over the net that landed on the floor to give ETSU the win. It was Asheville's first home loss of the season.
The Bulldogs used five service aces to build a lead midway through the first set and won 25-20. ETSU came right back in the second set as it hit .250 and took advantage of nine Bulldog hitting errors to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-18 win.
In the third set, the Bucs had 20 kills and build a 23-18 lead. The visitors had five blocks in the set as well. Asheville roared back and tied the set at 23-23, Benorden had two kills in the run and two attack errors by ETSU helped get the set tied.
But at 24-24, the Bucs got a kill from Dyck and then a kill from Barber to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Asheville forced a fifth set by leading the entire set but had to hold ETSU off in the end. The Bulldogs led by 19-14 but only two service errors helped knot the set at 23-23. But an ETSU service error and a kill from setter Rachel Guinane gave the Bulldogs the set at 25-23.
Asheville returns to Big South Conference play Saturday afternoon against Radford at 2 p.m. The match will be the Bulldogs annual Dig Pink match to help fight breast cancer. Asheville will wear pink jerseys in the match and those jerseys will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Sideout Foundation.
