Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
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UTEP
Volleyball Swings Past UTEP, 3-0
10/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 17, 2008
EL PASO, Texas - Marshall University's Jalicia Ross (Bank Village, Trinidad) blasted a match-high 16 kills and recorded an amazing .800 hitting percentage (16K, 0E, 20TA) to pace the Thundering Herd to a 3-0 (25-23, 29-27, 25-20) sweep of UTEP in Friday night's Conference USA volleyball match in El Paso, Texas.
With the win, Marshall extends its winning streak to two matches and improves to 10-8 overall, 3-5 in C-USA. UTEP falls to 5-15 on the season, 1-6 in league action.
Trailing 2-0 in the match, UTEP again notched an early 9-7 advantage, but Marshall struck for a 5-0 run on the strength of two kills by Megan Carlson (Andover, Minn.) and one each from Kristin Marcum (Arlington, Texas) and Emily Sullivan (Cincinnati, Ohio) to take a 13-9 lead. The Miners responded by cutting the lead to 13-12, but could get no closer, as the Herd would claim a five-point cushion, scoring 10 of the next 16 points to post a 23-18 advantage. UTEP managed two more points on a service ace by a Marshall error, bringing the score to 24-20, but Marcum drilled her 12th kill of the contest to seal the sweep for the Herd.
"We played well tonight," head coach Mitch Jacobs said following the win. "Jalicia hit the ball really well, but she wasn't the only one that did well. I thought Liz did a great job of being unpredictable. It all came together."
UTEP broke out to an early 13-8 advantage in the opening stanza before Marshall responded with four unanswered points on the strength of a kill apiece from Cameron Yoho (Sistersville, W.Va.), Marcum and Sullivan, in addition to an assisted block from Yoho and Sullivan, to climb to within one at 13-12. The Miners then extended their lead back to four at 19-15, before the Herd scored seven of the next 10 points to send the frame to a 22-22 deadlock. A UTEP attacking error and a kill by Sullivan gave Marshall 24-22 cushion before the Miners fought off set-point with a kill off the swing of Daidre Mendenhall to bring UTEP to within one at 24-23. Sullivan then blasted her fourth kill of the stanza to close out the set, 25-23.
UTEP posted a 19-13 lead in the second set before seven straight Marshall points, highlighted by a trio of kills from Marcum, a service ace from Carlson and a kill each from Elizabeth Fleming (South Bend, Ind.) Layne Kehl (Mountain Top, Pa.) and Ross, gave the Herd a 20-19 edge. The Miners then responded with a 5-1 run to stake a 24-21 lead, before Marshall stormed back to tie the set at 24-24 on the strength of two Carlson kills, and one from Sullivan. The sides would tie three more times before Marcum broke a 27-27 stalemate with her sixth and seventh kills of the frame to give the Herd a 2-0 lead in the contest.
"We came out kind of flat in sets one and two," Jacobs stated. "In set one it was straight offense, neither team played well defensively, but 15 points into set two, I thought we played our best floor defense. The biggest defensive play of the night came with the score at 24-23 when Layne Kehl made a huge dig on an angle attack. Liz sets the ball and Carlson finished with the kill. We were in the right place at the right time and that was the biggest thing for us tonight."
Marcum finished with 12 kills, three service aces and nine digs in contest, while Carlson provided 11 kills and hit at a stellar .348 clip (11K, 3E, 23TA) in the winning effort. Sullivan accounted for nine kills, while Yoho terminated six balls on 12 swings for a .417 hitting mark (6K, 1E, 12TA). Marshall finished the match with an overall hitting percentage of .364
Taylor Tanner (Union, Ky.) provided the defensive spark, producing a match-high 19 digs against the Miners. Jessica Dhoore (LaPorte, Ind.) added nine digs in the win. Fleming finished with a match-best 46 assists on the night.
"Taylor did well, showing what four years of playing does," Jacobs added. "She did a great job defensively."
UTEP received eight-kill efforts from Mendenhall, Amy Sanders and Patty Jarmoc, and a 15-dig outing from KeAnne Langford. Jarmoc also handed out 27 helpers in the loss.
Marshall returns to C-USA action, Sunday, Oct. 19 for a 2:00 p.m. ET showdown with Tulane in New Orleans, La. That match can be viewed live on GameTracker by visiting HerdZone.com.
