University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Gardner-Webb
Volleyball Rallies Past Gardner-Webb in Five Sets
09.23.2011 | Women's Volleyball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Cindi Miller posted a game-high 23 kills to lead UNC Asheville to a thrilling 3-2 Big South Conference victory over Gardner-Webb Friday night at Justice Center. The Bulldogs rallied for the win as they won, 15-25, 15-25, 25-20, 25-16, 16-14.
Asheville (7-6, 1-0 BSC) also picked up 11 kills and four blocks from Anna Moore. Holly Shelton continued nine kills and four blocks. Alex Stewart led the defense with 14 digs.
The much-improved Runnin' Bulldogs (4-10, 0-1 BSC) were led by four players in double figures. Tyler Cockrell had 12 kills and six blocks. Erin Anderson and Lauren Evans finished with 11 kills. Lauren Wilcox added 10 kills and four blocks.
The victory gave first-year Asheville coach Frederico Santos a win in his home coaching debut at Justice Center.
"I'm very proud of our team tonight," commented Santos. "We didn't play very well early but much of that was due to the play of Gardner-Webb. They gave us fits.
"We made some adjustments, picked up our play and was able to get to a fifth set," added Santos. "The fifth set was wild but we managed to make plays when we absolutely had to have them."
The decisive fifth set was a thriller that had four lead changes and seven ties. Asheville trailed 14-13 after Gardner-Webb had rattled off four straight points to reach match point.
But Miller quickly tied the game with a kill at 14-14. The senior outside hitter had another kill to give Asheville match point at 15-14.
After an extended rally, the Runnin' Bulldogs were called for a blocking error as the Bulldogs earned their second straight win.
The victory as Asheville's second over Gardner-Webb this year as the Bulldogs edged the Runnin' Bulldogs in five sets at the Gamecock Invitational on Sept. 3. Asheville is 3-0 in five-set matches this year.
Gardner-Webb dominated the first two sets winning each of them easily 25-15, 25-15. In the first set, the match was tied 9-9 before the Runnin' Bulldogs ran off eight straight points to race to a 17-9 lead. Asheville could get no closer and lost 25-15. The visitors did not have an attack error in the first set as they had 17 kills in 30 attempts for a .567 hitting percentage.
The Runnin' Bulldogs coasted in the second set. They scored the first five points and were never threatened as Asheville could get no closer than three pints. The Bulldogs helped the GWU cause by making 11 hitting errors and hit -.118 in the set.
Asheville rebounded in the third set as it took charge right off the bat and built a 21-14 lead before settling for a 25-20 win The Bulldogs blocking was much better as they forced 10 hitting errors by Gardner-Webb.
The home team wasted no time taking charge of the fourth set as it raced to a 7-2 lead and forced a fifth set with a 25-16 win. Shelton had four kills in the set.
Asheville plays next at Big South foe Liberty on Friday at 7 p.m. The Runnin' Bulldogs will return to action next Tuesday night, as GWU will step back out of conference play to do battle with the Spartans of USC Upstate at 7 p.m. in Spartanburg, S.C.
