Marshall University Athletics
Herd Volleyball Zips to 17th Win
11/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Herd Volleyball Zips to 17th Win
11/2/2004
- BOX SCORE
HUNTINGTON, W.Va ? For the second time this season and the third time in a row, the Marshall volleyball team zipped by the Akron Zips with a 3-1 (30-25, 21-30, 30-28, 30-25) win in Mid-American Conference volleyball action Wednesday night at the Cam Henderson Center.
?I think it?s a very positive night when you can beat Akron twice in the same season,? Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs said. ?They are the best coached defensive team in the league and we outdug them tonight.?
The Herd downed the Zips earlier in the season with a 3-0 win at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron and also beat them 3-0 in the semifinals of the MAC tournament last season. This time out, the win helped the Herd up its record to 9-1 on the floor of the Cam Henderson Center and moved its overall mark to 17-9 on the season, 8-4 in the MAC.
On the night, Marshall had several players step up defensively. Five members of the Thundering Herd were in double-digits in digs with freshman libero Maggie Arias (Indianapolis, Ind.) leading the way with 19. She was followed by freshman Kelly-Anne Billingy (Trincity, Trinidad) and junior Katie Stein (Sussex, Wis), with 13 a piece. Freshman Stephanie Cahill (Louisville, Ky.) and sophomore Christing Bimberg (Schwerin, Germany), chipped in with 12 digs each.
Billingy had four blocks on the night and Sims led the way with five at the net for the Herd.
Offensively for Marshall, Billingy led the way with 22 kills and three service aces. The 22 kills moves her to sixth on the MAC single season kills list with 566 on the season. Sims also was solid on the attacking front with 15 kills and a .371 hitting percentage. Cahill put down 14 kills to round out a double-double on the evening. Stein was impressive on the night in the setter role with 62 assists in the four-gamer. She also had five kills to go along with her 13 digs.
The Herd had to grind out the victory against the Zips unlike earlier in the season when it dominated the first two games en route to victory at Akron. Marshall built a commanding 21-16 lead in game one after two kills by Stein and an attack error from the Zips, but Akron would not go away. The Zips took advantage of four errors on Marshall?s part to tie it at 22-22. The Herd then used a 8-3 run to close out game one, 30-25.
The Zips jumped out in game two to take the lead at 3-2 and never looked back, rushing on to the 30-21 win in the second frame to tie up the match heading into intermission.
The Herd held a solid lead for much of game three and looked as if the momentum had totally swung in the favor of the green team with a 28-23 lead. However, the Zips went on a 5-1 run to force a Marshall timeout after some sloppy play. The Herd would respond to the Jacobs timeout by ending game three with a quick kill by Sims from Stein to end it, 30-28.
Marshall held on in game four by grinding out a close battle where the Zips refused to go away. Sims had two kills to help give the Herd a 21-17 advantage and Cahill followed with three kills of her own to help give Marshall enough momentum to hold on for the win, 30-25.
?When we really got down to it in games three and four and played disciplined you saw how tough we can be,? Jacobs said. ?But when we weren?t disciplined, that?s when we struggle against teams that are consistent. Overall I?m very happy with the win and it?s just another step toward making a big stride to keep the momentum going heading into the MAC tournament.?
The Herd has two more big home matches coming up this weekend to close out its six-match homestand and conclude regular season play on the floor of the Cam Henderson Center. Marshall plays host to Eastern Michigan, Friday night at 7 p.m., with a special planned ceremony for former volleyball coaching legend and Herd Hall-of-Famer, Linda Holmes. The Herd then turns around and takes on the Toledo Rockets at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening. The match with the Rockets will be Fan Appreciation Night.
?We?ve got two very important, very tough matches coming up this weekend,? Jacobs said. ?We need to put Akron behind us and get ready to focus for the stretch run.?