Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
UMBC
Volleyball Wins Pirate Invitational with 3-1 Win Over UMBC
9/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2012
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Marshall volleyball brought home its third tournament title of the season on Saturday after defeating UMBC 3-1 (24-26, 25-13, 25-20, 25-21) in the final match of the East Carolina Pirate Invitational.
The Herd extended its win-streak to eight with the victory and improved to 11-4. The win streak is the largest Marshall has seen since starting the 2009 season 9-0. The victory also marked head coach Mitch Jacobs' 200th win as a Marshall head coach.
Three players earned All-Tournament awards following the match. Libero Dorothy Rahal earned Pirate Invitational MVP after recording nearly six digs per set for the weekend. Middle blocker Sacha Byous-McConnell and outside hitter Katy Schad earned All-Tournament selections as well.
Byous-McConnell returned to the court after having to sit out seven matches this season due to injury. The junior finished the weekend with 32 kills and a .468 hitting percentage. She only committed three errors on 62 attacks and led the Herd in blocks with eight.
Schad had a team-high 48 kills and 4.36 kill per set average during the three-day tournament. She was second on the team in digs with 50 and earned 4.55 digs per set.
Marshall started the UMBC match on Saturday afternoon with only its second lost set of the past seven matches. The Herd led 24-19 in the opening set, but a seven point run helped UMBC win the game.
"We really let set one go," said head coach Mitch Jacobs. "It was very frustrating to have a big lead at 24-19 go. I was proud of the way we did in set two and as the match progressed it was great to see Sacha and Sammie start to connect again."
Schad helped turn things around in the second set, swinging down four kills and earning two blocks, and the Herd won the set 25-13. Marshall's defense forced UMBC to have a negative hitting percentage and only account for eight kills.
Byous-McConnell combined for 11 kills in the third and fourth to help the Herd win the match. She kept a clean attack slate in the two sets, committing zero errors and finishing with over a .750 hitting percentage. She finished the match with 14 kills and a team-high .571 hitting percentage.
Schad led the Herd in the match with 19 kills and recorded 16 digs. Der contributed nine kills and finished with 14 digs.
"Katy Schad was very good through the tournament, especially defensively," noted Jacobs. "Her effort tonight was the best I've ever seen her block and floor defense was fantastic throughout the weekend."
On defense, the Herd was led by Jillian Shemanski and Schad with five block assists each. Rahal posted a team-high 21 digs.
Marshall will travel to Tulsa for its next match against the Golden Hurricane. The match is set to start at 8 p.m. on Friday, September 21.
