Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Wake Forest
@HerdVolleyball Prevail Over Wake Forest In Four Sets
9/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Marshall volleyball extends its win streak to three on Friday, Sept. 11 at the Panthers Invitational with a win over Wake Forest, 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-10, 25-17).
The Herd moves to 7-1, while the Demon Deacons fall to 4-3.
In the first set, Marshall wasted no time to jump out to a lead. The Herd took six out of the first seven points. Wake Forest wouldn't go away silently and fought back to tie the set up at 13. After the tied set, the score remained close to the finale as the largest lead held was four points by the Herd. With match point in hand, Marshall's defense forced an attack error to claim the set, 25-23. Freshman Shelby Conley (Paintsville, Ky.) was the star of the set with six kills, two digs and a hit percentage of .417. Junior Ally Kiekover (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and sophomore Taylor Pelton (Louisville, Ky.) each had four kills in the set. Junior Allie Kellerman (Louisville, Ky.) had a team high seven digs.
The roles were reversed in the second set with Wake Forest opening on a five point run. The lead was too much for the Herd to overcome as it never saw the lead and the closest it got within was four points. The Demon Deacons went on to take the set with a score of 25-19.
The Herd thundered back in the third set and went on to dominate Wake Forest with a 25-10 victory. Marshall opened with a 7-3 lead that included three kills from Pelton and two from Kiekover. From there the Herd's defense dominated play by not allowing the Deacons to get within four points again and forced eight attack errors. Pelton finished the set with a team high five kills and the lone block.
After a commanding performance in the third set, Marshall came into the fourth looking to close out the match. The Herd did just that. The two teams traded points early on, but with the score at 8-7, Marshall gained separation and put itself at a four point advantage. Despite Wake Forest battling back, they never were able to gain control of the lead. With the set at 13-12, the Herd went on a four point run to give itself a 17-12 cushion. MU continued to control the tempo of the match till the end to earn the 25-17 set win and ultimately the match victory.
Pelton and Weaver led the way with 15 kills, apiece. Pelton also had four total blocks. Kiekover shined with 14 kills on 23 attacks and one error for a .565 hit percentage. Sophomore Kayla Simmons (Gainesville, Fla.) set a new career high with 52 assists, while Kellerman had a new season high in digs with 24. Senior Lauren Legge (Pliny, W.Va.) ended the match with six kills and two blocks. Huntington, W.Va., native junior Taylor Riedel ended the match with a career high 14 digs.
COACH'S CORNER
Quotes from Coach Mitch Jacobs
About the match:
"The girls played their hearts out today on the defensive side of the ball. We had a lot of positive block touches and played our best floor defense of the year. Our service game stayed strong and was finally able to start getting them out of system. They're a great passing team so it was important for us not to be impatient knowing that aces weren't going to come easy."
About defeating Wake Forest & Boston College:
"It was great win for the Herd. Two ACC wins is very big for us and now we need to really keep our emotions in check and be ready to get after it tomorrow."
On Kellerman's performance:
"Allie Kellerman had her best match, she was everywhere she needed to be. Not only digging the ball but she was a coverage machine behind our attackers."
On the Herd's attacking:
"We got an early boost from Shelby Conley and then Weaver, Pelton and 'Kiko' really led the offense."
On Taylor Riedel's performance:
"We were really struggling to get things together early, especially in set two. That's when Taylor Riedel stepped up huge and started taking away the cut back shots and tips that had been getting down. It changed the momentum and we really never let it go from there."
UP NEXT
The Herd retakes the court tomorrow to face the host school High Point at 10:30 a.m. and then wraps up the tournament against Davidson at 5 p.m.
