Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Radford
Marshall Picks Up Split at Appalachian Classic
8/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 26, 2006
BOONE, N.C.-The Marshall Thundering Herd volleyball team ended up with a split of Saturday's games at the Mast General Store Appalachian Classic. Middle Tennessee defeated the Herd 3-1 (30-28, 24-30, 30-22, 30-27) in the first contest, but Marshall regrouped and defeated Radford 3-2 (29-31, 27-30, 30-22, 32-30, 15-11) to take the second match.
Match 1: Middle Tennessee 3, Marshall 1
In the first match Middle Tennessee was lead by Ashley Asberry's 25 kills and Megan Sumrell's 62 assists.
The Herd battled with the Blue Raiders to win the second game. Leading the way for the Herd were Chelsea Lazar (Palm Harbor, Fla.), Uche Ndubisi (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Katherine Poss (Newnan, Ga.) all going for career-highs. Lazar had her best kill total with 18, Ndubisi produced nine blocks and Poss made 37 assists.
"Our presence at the net was solid," Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs said. "We certainly improved from yesterday. I'm proud of our team; we played an excellent team to a tough match."
With a team total of 14 blocks, Jacobs said the team's defense needed to improve.
"Our service was fine but our passing broke down a little," he said. "We need a stronger showing on defense."
Match 2: Marshall 3, Radford 2
With the call to step-up on defense from the head coach, the Herd delivered against Radford.
The Herd fell the first two games before battling back to take the final three for the victory.
"It was a good finish and we really needed it," Jacobs said. "We started slow, we finally were able to turn it around and play Herd volleyball."
Lazar continued her assault on personal bests by stringing together eight blocks and tying her previous game's output of 18 kills. Lazar's first double-double of her career came when she locked up her 10th dig, also a career-high.
"Chelsea really played well for us," Jacobs said. "She had an outstanding performance and made the all-tournament team."
Christin Bimberg (Schwerin, Germany) also garnered her first career triple-double. The Herd's lone senior threw down 10 kills, 14 assists and 11 digs.
Marshall totaled five players in double digit kills and six players with double digit digs.
The team's leader in kills for the match was freshmen Emily Sullivan (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 19. She was followed Kristin Marcum (Arlington, Texas), who put down 18 kills and 23 digs.
Poss continued to shatter her personal best yet again with 63 assists, 14 digs, four blocks and seven kills in the second contest.
Marshall's defense was anchored by libero Maggie Arias (Indianapolis, Ind.) with 31 digs, which was sixth best all-time for any Herd player in a match.
"We played some really good floor defense," Jacobs said. "Maggie's 31 and six players with double digit digs is pretty good for us."
"We just played really hard in the final three games. Winning a close one is really huge."
Marshall will return to action Wednesday, August 30 for a 7 p.m. match at Xavier University in Cincinnati.
