Marshall University Athletics
@HerdVolleyball Blanks Canisius, 3-0
8/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
MOREHEAD, KY. - Marshall volleyball continued its hot start of the season on Saturday, Aug. 29 with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-7) victory over the Canisius Golden Griffins at the Eagle Challenge. After dropping its first set of the season, Marshall has now won its last nine en route to back-to-back shutout victories.
The Herd improved to 3-0 on the season while the Griffs slipped to 0-3.
Juniors Ally Kiekover (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Cassie Weaver (Huntington, W.Va.) and sophomore Taylor Pelton (Louisville, Ky.) led the way for the Herd in the kills department as all three recorded double-digit kills, with Kiekover and Weaver notching 13 and Pelton with 10. Kiekover was economical with her attacks as she registered a team high .632 hit percentage (13 kills, one error and 19 attacks). Junior Allie Kellerman (Louisville, Ky.) collected a match high 14 digs.
In the first set of the match, Canisius grabbed the first two points, but the Herd responded with taking of the next five out of six points with kills from Weaver and Kiekover. Canisius surged back though, as it took an 11-9 lead over the Herd. The set remained close with neither team being able to gain an edge larger than two points. After a tied set at 17 points, Marshall pulled away with three straight kills from Kiekover and Weaver, all being assisted by the sophomore setter Kayla Simmons (Gainesville, Fla.), who had 28 on the day. The Herd extended its margin to five points, which forced a Canisius timeout. The Golden Griffins came out of the timeout focused, but the Marshall lead was too much as Pelton closed out the set with a kill from Simmons.
Canisius started strong in the second set by gaining three points to take an early 3-1 advantage, but attacks from Weaver and Justice Craft (Kentwood, Mich.) allowed the Herd to tie the set. Marshall slowly started to pull away to an 11-6 lead, including kills from Kiekover and Pelton. The Herd continued the pressure on the Griffs, as both teams traded points until the score was 15-10. Marshall went on to make its margin to seven points (18-11) after two kills by Kiekover and an ace by Weaver. The outside hitters kept on swinging for the Herd as they help push the score to 22-16, forcing a Griffins' timeout. After the timeout, Canisius erased half of the deficit to just three points, which resulted in a Marshall timeout. Kiekover wasted no time coming out of the break by killing the next two available points to give the Herd the 2-0 advantage.
The Herd was focused to finish off the Griffins in the third set. Marshall leaped out to a 13-4 edge over the Griffs that included kills from Craft, Weaver, Kiekover, Pelton and a service ace by Taylor Riedel (Huntington, W.Va.). The Herd continued their dominance with stellar defensive play that forced multiple attack errors in a row by the Canisius offense. With the set sitting at 16-6, Marshall went on an eight-point streak to make the score 24-6 before the Griffs halted the run. The Herd defense earned the match point as they caused an attack error by Canisius.
"It feels good starting the season the way we have," Herd coach Mitch Jacobs said. "I felt this match followed the pattern as the other two matches. We started a little slowly and we got tougher and tougher defensively as the match went on. We showed this weekend that if we can stay on point defensively and limit our unforced errors we can be pretty tough."
Marshall's defense played a vital role in the team's success this weekend, including the final set on Saturday by forcing 11 attack errors. The Herd's stingy defense resulted in 21 attack errors against Canisius, but also 22 at Morehead State and 34 against Indiana State.
Senior Lauren Legge (Pliny, W.Va.) and Craft led the team with two block assists, while freshman Shelby Conley (Paintsville, Ky.) and senior Ashley Arnold (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) each had one. Kiekover had the lone solo block for the Herd.
Up next, Marshall makes its home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. against Eastern Kentucky inside the Cam Henderson Center. It will be Kelly Green Night at the Henderson, make sure to wear your kelly green and show your support for the Herd as it looks to stay perfect.
