University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
2-0
Eastern Kentucky
1-0
Bulldogs Sweep Colonels in Home Opener
09.06.2019 | Women's Volleyball
ASHEVILLE – In front of a raucous crowd in the Justice Center, UNC Asheville's volleyball team won its home opener, 3-0, against Eastern Kentucky in its first match of the UNC Invitational, Friday night.
The atmosphere was electric from the first serve as student-athletes from many of the Bulldogs' programs and a host of loyal supporters were boisterous in their support. And the Bulldogs (2-2) gave them plenty to cheer about.
Senior Julia Borges had another big night, tying for the team lead with seven kills, while also recording 10 digs and 6.0 blocks. Sophomore Molly Hackett also had seven kills and notched nine digs. Grace Volk and Kailey Hackett split the majority of the duties at setter, and each racked up double-digits, coming up with 11 and 10, respectively.
On the defensive end, junior Kasey West led the squad in digs for the third-straight match, recording 15, while senior Ansley Rooks had 12 and chipped in four kills.
Maybe the greatest advantage on the court was the clean play of the Bulldogs compared to the Colonels (1-3), who had 30 attack errors as opposed to just 12 for the Bulldogs. The Colonels also had more service errors, ball handling errors and set errors.
SET-BY-SET
SET 1: BULLDOGS WIN 25-21: The energy in the building was palpable early, as the Bulldogs wen on three runs of three or more points in the early going, capped by a four-point run to make the score 14-7. The Colonels would counter with a pair of three-point runs of their own, but the Bulldogs would not let them catch back up as Julia Borges recorded two kills and Molly Hackett, Ansley Rooks and Cecilia Stack each picked up one down the stretch. Julia Loveday capped things off and delivered the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead in the match with a kill on set point.
SET 2: BULLDOGS WIN 25-22: The excitement came roaring back as Borges and Molly Hackett each had a kill to start the second set. EKU responded and took a 6-3 lead before the Bulldogs reeled off four in a row. UNC Asheville started to gain traction and built a 16-11, but the Colonels went on a seven-point run to take an 18-16 lead. The Bulldogs scored three-in-a-row to claim a 20-19 lead, but EKU matched that run and led 22-20, prompting a timeout from Frederico Santos. Whatever he said worked, as the Bulldogs ripped off five straight to win the set, with the run jump-started by a Borges kill.
SET 3: BULLDOGS WIN 25-17: The beginning of the third set looked a little lackadaisical out of the gate, as EKU took a 4-1 lead. And then a switch flipped, as the Bulldogs scored six straight points and nine-of-10 to take a 10-5 lead: a lead which they would not relinquish. The Bulldogs would go on three separate runs of three-straight points and closed out the Colonels with a kill by Rooks to get to set point, followed by an EKU attack error to end things.
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UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will return to action in Match 2 of the second day of action, squaring off against North Carolina A&T at 12:30 p.m. The Aggies (0-4) were swept by Dartmouth in the first match of the event Friday.
The nightcap will be a 6:30 p.m. contest in which the Bulldogs take on the big Green of Dartmouth (1-0), who opened their season Friday afternoon with a victory.
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FROM HEAD COACHÂ FREDERICOÂ SANTOS
On the offensive run after trailing in the third set:
"I think the difficulty is points come so easy it's a trap. You have to play every point differently than the last. In our sport, we like to call it bettering the ball. I think the other thing that's super important that's been passed down from my grandfather and my dad: you have to play every point in the match like it's the last one in the match, with that intensity, with that 'I'm not going to let this ball drop, or I'm going to score on this point.' You have to do that every point. We need to keep the players fighting for every ball. You keep accelerating and you push it to another gear."
On the atmosphere in the Justice Center:
"It's fantastic. This is what's kept me here for all these years. I love the crowds at UNC Asheville. I love our student-athletes coming to watch us, our friends, our BAA members, all of those people. It's so awesome to have them come support us. You know all those faces in the crowd, and just for me, to share the joy of victory with them is priceless."
