Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Colorado State
Volleyball Suffers First Loss of Season
9/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2009
Marshall volleyball falls to Colorado State Friday afternoon -
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Marshall University volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Colorado State in the team's first match of the Carolina Classic in the Dean E. Smith Center.
The Herd (9-1) fell in three sets (25-21, 25-15, 28-26) to a CSU (5-3) club that had a .188 attack percentage on the night. The nine wins the Herd carried into the weekend is the best start in program history, with the second-best mark dating back to 1980 when the Herd opened at 6-0.
In the first set, MU fell short with nine errors and a 0.087 hitting percentage. Elizabeth Fleming put in for 10 assists, but the Herd could only connect on 13 kills.
"We just made too many unforced errors early in the match to sustain any momentum," head coach Mitch Jacobs said. "We really had our chances in game one, but with the errors the momentum stayed with Colorado State."
After falling behind 4-0, a quick timeout turned the momentum around for a three-point run to bring the Herd within one. MU tied it up on three occasions before taking its first lead at 10-9 on a block assist by Cameron Yoho and Kristin Marcum. Yoho followed the play with a block-solo to extend an 11-9 lead.
The Herd rallied from behind at 16-14, with a pair of kills from Katy Schad, an ace by Emily Sullivan and block assists from Fleming and Yoho. The run put MU on top 18-16 for its second lead of the set.
Despite a kill by Schad at 20-20, the Rams would remain in control for the remainder of the set. Set-one saw nine ties and five lead changes before CSU took the final three points to claim the first set 25-21.
The Rams carried a 25-15 win into the second set as they chalked up 13 kills and a .265 hitting percentage compared to the Herd's seven kills and -0.061 hitting percentage.
MU opened with a slow start, trailing 6-5 before a kill by Schad and an ace by Marcum gave the Herd its only lead of the second set at 7-6. CSU would carry the lead from the 10-9 mark for the remainder of the set.
Jacque Davisson and Brieon Paige led the Rams with three kills each, as Fleming tallied five assists and one kill for the Herd in the second set.
"Colorado State played great in the second game," Jacobs said. "We were becoming listless out there. For the first time this season I could see our players questioning themselves. We were able to talk about that during the break and then we started to really come together in game three."
Set three saw an animated MU offense as the Herd stayed within one point up to the 11-13 mark when CSU's Tessa Nelson laid down a kill. Marcum answered with a kill of her own, but the Rams came back with three more points for a 16-12 lead.
MU closed the gap at 20-20 on three serves from Sullivan and four from Fleming.
"We were seeing a change in the match," said Jacobs. "I'm proud of the way we kept fighting even though they closed us out. We could have really made a push if we had won the third game."
MU battled within one-point until the Rams edged by, 28-26, on a pair of Herd attack errors. Schad finished the evening with 15 digs and a team-best nine kills, while Fleming came through with a double-double on 26 assists and 13 digs.
Top performers for the Rams were Danielle Minch, with 13 kills, and Davisson, who belted 11 kills and two aces.
"Give CSU all the credit for hanging tough and finishing the match," said Jacobs. "Now we need to focus on Carolina tomorrow morning. I'm excited that we get an immediate chance to get back on the court and put this one behind us."
Marshall volleyball returns to action Saturday morning at 10 a.m. to face off against tournament-host North Carolina. The Herd will then conclude its stay in Chapel Hill with a 5:30 match against Tennessee.
Live stats for the Carolina Classic can be viewed by logging onto the UNC athletics website at www.tarheelblue.com.
