University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Liberty
Volleyball Falls at Liberty
09.30.2011 | Women's Volleyball
Asheville (7-7, 1-1 BSC) was led by senior outside hitter Cindi Miller with 10 kills. Alex Stewart sparked the defense with 13 digs. Rachel Wells added 10 digs. Holly Shelton finished with eight kills and two blocks.
Lady Flames sophomore Lillie Happel led all players with 12 kills and added 11 digs, while Jade Craycraft dished out 32 assists in addition to 12 digs
Set one opened in back-and-forth fashion, producing an 11-11 deadlock midway through. Following a Happel kill, Craycraft earned consecutive kills on the way to a 14-11 Liberty lead. Melissa Racz sent down a kill for an 18-13 edge, leading to a Bulldogs timeout. Shipe later served for three straight points, including an ace, and the hosts led, 22-15. Craycraft sealed set one, 25-17, with her third kill of the set.
The Lady Flames hit .333 during set one, compared to .100 for the Bulldogs. Happel earned four kills and seven digs in the opening frame.
UNC Asheville built a quick 5-2 lead in the second set, as Miller tallied a pair of early kills. Liberty then surged into the lead with a 4-0 rally, and later built its advantage to six, 15-9, after back-to-back kills by Thomas and Happel. The Bulldogs chipped away at the deficit, and trailed by just two, 16-14, after a Miller ace capped a four-point surge by the visitors. Liberty responded, and held a 20-17 lead following a Happel kill.
The guests surged ahead at 22-20 with a 5-0 rally. A Gebben kill halted the rally, and Gabriell Shipe tied the score at 22-all with an ace. Anna Moore scored a kill, but Liberty notched the final three points of the set. Gebben recorded a kill to clinch set two, 25-23, giving Liberty a 2-0 lead going into intermission.
Liberty gained control early in set three, receiving two kills from Racz and a triple block on the way to a 10-5 lead. The visitors bounced back to even the score at 10-10, benefitting from three Lady Flames errors in succession. Thomas scorched a kill to spark a 4-0 run which led to a 17-12 edge. The Lady Flames led by six, 20-14, after a Racz kill, and Gebben ended the match with a kill for a 25-18 set three win.
Asheville travels to Radford on Saturday at 4 p.m.
