University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Gardner-Webb
Benorden Records 14th Double-Double in Bulldog Victory at Gardner-Webb
11.03.2009 | Women's Volleyball
Benorden's 14th double-double of the season helped Asheville (21-8, 10-2 Big South) sweep the season series from Gardner-Webb (11-17, 3-8 Big South) and sets up a battle for first place at Liberty on Friday night.
Lauren Ficker had 12 kills and hit .476 on the match while Cindi Miller added 10 kills as the Bulldogs hit .302 as a team.
Molly Rhyne led all attackers with 21 kills. Laura Wilcox had 14 kills and Melissa Richie added 10 kills and 10 digs for GWU. The home standing Bulldogs hit .224 in the match.
Asheville had nine service aces in the match including Raquel Miotto's 58th ace of the season on match point. Miotto is tied for third on UNC Asheville single-season ace list. She trails Frida Sigurdardottir's 2002 total of 62 service aces. Rachel Guinane also had three aces and 40 assists for Asheville.
The visiting Bulldogs also won the battle defensively out-digging GWU 55-52 and outblocking the Runnin' Bulldogs 9-6. Miotto had 16 digs to lead all defensive players while Brooke Holliday added 10 digs. Ficker, Jenna Dover, and Rachel Olivo each had three blocks for UNC Asheville.
The opening set saw 10 ties and three lead changes. The set was tied at 23-23 when Benorden's kill gave Asheville set point. A GWU attack error gave the Dogs the opening set.
The second set was tied 10-10 before Asheville went on a 12-3 run to take command of the set 22-13. Miller had three kills and the Bulldogs had two service aces during the run. Asheville is now 24-5 in the second set this season.
After the intermission, Asheville jumped out to a 11-7 lead but GWU answered with a 13-1 run off the serving of Brett Wilson and Regina Feagin. The Running Bulldogs would hold off a late Asheville charge to take the set 25-21.
In the fourth set, Asheville had its side out game working. The Bulldogs sided-out 73 percent of the time in the final set and hit .333 which was their best attack percentage since the opening set. A kill by Guinane gave Asheville a 9-8 lead in the set that the Dogs would not relinquish. Asheville had six match points but only needed one as Miotto's ace finished the match.
With the win, Asheville ties Liberty atop the conference standings. The two teams will play each other on Friday night for sole position of first place. The match will begin at 7 p.m. in Lynchburg, Va. GWU travel to High Point on Friday night.
