University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Gardner-Webb
Asheville Whips Gardner-Webb, 3-0
09.21.2010 | Women's Volleyball
Asheville controlled the match from the start as it jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first set and then used key scorings runs in the second and third set to win its first home match of the season.
The Bulldogs (7-6, 1-0 BSC) had 16 digs from Miller and nine from Benorden. Rachel Olivo led a strong blocking effort with five blocks. Freshman Meredith Foster had seven kills for the home team.
Laura Wilcox led Gardner-Webb (4-10, 0-1 BSC) with nine kills. Melissa Richie posted a game-high 17 digs. Molly Rhyne had seven kills for the visitors. GWU had 27 attack errors in the match.
"We might have played our best match of the year tonight," commented Bulldog coach Julie Torbett. "We've played well like we did tonight but not for an entire match. I thought we did a good job being aggressive serving throughout the match.
"Our crowd tonight was just tremendous," added Torbett. "It's so nice to play a home match after being on the road for the first 12 matches of the season. We had great energy from the start and our crowd was a big reason for that energy."
The Bulldogs got five kills from five different players early in the first set to help Asheville jump out to a 9-1 lead. The home team steadily built on the lead throughout the set and led 22-11 before a late GWU run cut the lead to 24-16. A kill from Miller sealed the first set for Asheville.
In the second set, the Bulldogs led most of the way and led 17-14 before Benorden's serving took over. She had two straight service aces to help lead a 4-0 run to give Asheville a 21-14 lead. Miller had the final two kills of the set for the Bulldogs.
In the third set, Gardner-Webb led early on two kills from Wilcox but Asheville began to pull away behind the hitting of Benorden and Miller plus some attack errors from the visitors. Asheville went on a 10-3 run to race to a 19-10 lead on a service ace from freshman Rachel Wells.
Foster finished the match up with a kill to give the Bulldogs their third straight victory.
Asheville stays in Big South Conference play on Saturday when it hosts defending league champ Coastal Carolina at Justice Center starting at 2 p.m. Gardner-Webb hosts Liberty Friday night at 7 p.m.
