Marshall University Athletics
Herd Volleyball Soars Over Eagles
11/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Herd Volleyball Soars Over Eagles
11/5/2004
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ? Eastern Michigan might be nicknamed the Eagles, but it was the Thundering Herd volleyball team that was flying high Friday night in the Cam Henderson Center with a 3-1 (30-27, 30-28, 17-30, 30-22) win over EMU in Mid-American Conference action.
The win was the Herd?s fourth in a row and 18th on the season. The Herd now stands at 18-9 overall and 9-4 in the MAC. Marshall also improves to 10-1 on the floor of the Cam Henderson Center this season. With the loss, Eastern Michigan drops to 15-9 overall and 10-3 in the MAC.
The win was also the first against Eastern Michigan for Marshall third-year head coach Mitch Jacobs.
?It was a great win tonight for the Herd,? Jacobs said. ?It feels good to finally get the first one against Eastern in a very difficult match. They?re a determined team that never quits, but we hung with them and got an incredible win.?
For the night, Marshall was led by freshman Kelly-Anne Billingy (Trincity, Trinidad) with 21 kills, nine digs, four block assists and five service aces. The 21 kills moves her to fourth place on the MAC all-time single season kills list with 587.
Also having an impressive night for the Herd was freshman libero Maggie Arias (Indianapolis, Ind) with a career-high 27 digs.
?Maggie was big for us tonight,? Jacobs said. ?She?s more comfortable in the middle back position and it showed tonight. She was tough out there.?
In a match where Eastern Michigan blockers were frustrating Marshall hitters, the Herd didn?t back down and kept going after it. The Eagles finished up with a total of 14 blocks as a team and limited Marshall to a .170 hitting percentage on the night, but it wasn?t enough to cool off the hot Herd.
In a close battle throughout, Marshall came out on top in games one and two, but Eastern came out of the intermission with a vengeance and took game three handily. Marshall would then regroup for the 30-22 win in game four to take the match.
Game one was tied at 27-27 when Amber Sims (Ney, Ohio) put down a kill to give the Herd a one point advantage. Billingy then recorded back-to-back service aces to close out the first frame for the Herd.
In the second game, Marshall jumped out to a quick lead, and was up by as many as seven at 19-12, before Eastern made a run to close the gap. However, Marshall would never relinquish the lead even though the Eagles made it interesting, closing to 29-28 before Sims would finish off the game with a kill.
Eastern Michigan never trailed in the third, hitting .357 for game three. The Eagles pulled to within a game of the Herd with the game three win, 30-17.
But in the end, it was Marshall that would prevail. Eastern would take a 5-3 lead in the fourth, but Marshall would gain momentum following a kill then a service ace from Christin Bimberg (Schwerin, Germany) to tie it a 5-5. A kill by Katie Stein (Sussex, Wis.) and two more by Sims would give the Herd an 8-5 lead, which it would never let go of the rest of the way. Sims finished off the match with her 12th kill on the night.
For the Herd, Sims finished with 12 kills and three block assists. Bimberg had 10 kills and 11 digs for a double-double.
The Herd also received a lift off the bench from freshman Carlee Maddox (St. Joseph, Mich.) with two kills on three swings.
Eastern Michigan was led by Melissa Bartlett with 13 kills. Emily Busch finished with nine kills and a .444 hitting percentage, while Bethany Piccolini had 12 kills and a .355 hitting clip on the night.
Marshall now will prepare to face the Toledo Rockets in the Cam Henderson Center tomorrow night in the Herd?s final home appearance of the regular season. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
?We have to enjoy this, but get focused on Toledo,? Jacobs said. ?We have to completely shift gears and get prepared for a really physical team tomorrow.?
