Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
SMU
Herd Volleyball's Defense Triggers Win Over SMU
10/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 30, 2005
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - In a match where defense was the difference, the Thundering Herd volleyball team posted a 3-0 (30-25, 30-24, 30-15) victory over the SMU Mustangs Sunday afternoon in the Cam Henderson Center.
Coming into the match, it was billed as Marshall's league-leading offense against SMU's league-leading defense. The storyline proved to be the Herd defense stepping up and shutting down SMU on the afternoon. Marshall finished with 15 blocks in the match compared to seven by SMU and held the Mustangs to a .074 hitting percentage with only 35 kills.
Marshall's floor defense was also stellar, outdigging SMU 64-49. Four players for the Herd ended up in double-digits on the dig sheet led by a career-high, 17, for freshman Taylor Tanner.
"It was a great defensive effort today by our team," Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs said. "SMU was tough in games one and two and I thought our defense was definitely the difference. In game three we were just rolling. This is a great win for us against a very good team."
Marshall never trailed in the match as it improved to 19-5 overall and 11-1 in Conference USA to stay atop the standings. SMU drops to 11-12 and 7-4 in C-USA. With the victory, Marshall is now 7-0 on the year in the Cam Henderson Center and has won 31 of its last 35 matches in the building.
Game one was nip and tuck with Marshall holding a slim advantage the whole way. SMU cut the lead to 19-18 before Marshall would give itself some breathing room to take a 1-0 lead in the match. In game one, Kelly-Anne Billingy was dominant with nine kills and a .533 hitting percentage. The sophomore also had three block solos in the opening frame.
In game two, the Herd stretched a narrow lead at 12-10 to a 19-13 advantage to take control. The Herd registered five blocks in game two to stifle the SMU offense. The Mustangs suffered a loss in game two when Caitlin Rainbird went to the flood with a knee injury following a kill by Billingy. Rainbird did not return.
The Herd didn't miss a beat after intermission as the typical Marshall offense began to shine in game three as the team hit .314 in the stanza. The Herd cruised down the stretch to take the final game 30-15 and put a wrap on its 19th win of the year.
Billingy finished with 21 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. The Trincity, Triniad native also notched a double-double with 11 digs and she had three block solos and four block assists for 26 total points. Setter Katie Stein also posted a double-double with 41 assists and 10 digs.
Amber Sims had five block assists and one solo on the day for the Herd. Tanner led Marshall with 17 digs, followed closely by libero Maggie Arias with 16.
"This a great win against a very, very good SMU team," Jacobs said. "The only unfortunate thing was for them to lose Rainbird. She's a good player and we hope she's okay. You never like to see that happen and you never like to play against a team that's not at full strength."
Marshall will return to action next Friday night when it hits the road to take on Southern Miss at 7 p.m. Following the USM match, the Herd will head to Orlando, Fla. to battle UCF on Sunday at 1 p.m.
