Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
UTSA
@HerdVolleyball Wins Thriller over UTSA
10/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall volleyball outlasted the UTSA Roadrunners in a Conference USA thriller on Sunday afternoon at the Cam Henderson Center, 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-17, 23-25, 15-11).
The Thundering Herd (14-5, 3-1 C-USA) was paced offensively by freshman Jac'cara Walker and senior Cassie Weaver. Walker had a career-high 22 kills while Weaver followed with a season-high 20 kills. Walker also set a new high in digs with 11 and Weaver had three blocks for a new season high. Senior libero Allie Kellerman had a team-high 29 digs for a new season high. Junior Kayla Simmons also set a new season-high in digs with 14. Junior Justice Craft set a new career-high seven blocks.
Marshall started the match by taking six of the first ten points. UTSA (12-4, 3-1 C-USA) responded by taking five consecutive points to take a 9-6 lead. UTSA increased its advantage to 13-8 on the strength of a Herd attack error and a service ace, forcing Marshall to call a timeout. The Herd used kills from Weaver, Walker and Madison Hill to tie the set at 18, but the UTSA responded by taking back-to-back points, forcing Marshall to burn its final timeout of the set. A pair of kills by Walker and a Roadrunners service error tied the set at 21, but UTSA closed the set by taking four of the next five points to win the set, 25-22.
The Herd began the second set by taking three of the first four points, but UTSA responded by taking back-to-back points to even the set at three. Marshall continued to attack, as kills by Weaver and Walker gave the Herd a 6-3 lead in the set. UTSA cut the Marshall lead to 7-6, but the Herd responded by scoring five straight points, increasing the lead to 12-6. Weaver, Walker and Ally Kiekover each had kills in the five-point stretch. The Roadrunners made a run of their own, taking eight of the next ten points to tie the set at 14. Kills by Kiekover and Weaver gave the Herd the lead once again and Marshall did not look back. The Herd finished the set by taking six of the final eight points of the set, winning the second set, 25-19, to tie the match at one set apiece.
The Herd started the third set by taking six of the first eight points, forcing UTSA to call a timeout. The Roadrunners were able to cut the Marshall lead to 10-9, but an eight-point Marshall run highlighted by kills from Weaver, Kiekover, Madelyn Cole and Craft gave the Herd an 18-9 lead and put the set out of reach for UTSA. Consecutive service aces got the Roadrunners within six at 19-13, but kills from Hill and Walker increased the Marshall lead to 22-14. Kiekover ended the set with a kill to give Marshall a 25-17 win in the set and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Marshall began set four by taking the first four points of the set, but UTSA responded by taking the next four points to tie the set at four. Marshall was able to build a 10-7 lead in the set before the teams kept exchanging points. A three-point UTSA run cut the Herd lead to 15-14 before the teams split the next six points. UTSA went on another run to take a 21-19 in the set, but the Herd responded by taking consecutive points to even the set at 21. Marshall and UTSA would split the next four points, but the Roadrunners took two straight at the end of the set to win the fourth set, 25-23, and force a deciding fifth set.
UTSA took three of the first four points of the final set, but the Herd responded yet again. Kills from Weaver and Cole gave Marshall a 4-3 lead. UTSA took five of the next six points to take an 8-5 lead at the break, but the Herd rallied to take a 10-8 lead. Walker had two kills, Cole had one kill and Kellerman had a service ace in the five-point span. UTSA came within one point at 12-11, but the Herd closed out the match with three straight points to take the deciding match, 15-11, and win the match, 3-2.
COACH'S CORNER
Quotes from head coach Mitch Jacobs
On Ally Kiekover:
"We got her the ball 29 times tonight, and even though she didn't hit .400 tonight, that's what we need to do. We haven't been able to get her the ball that much and we need 'Kiko' to score for us. She's so unselfish that she went after it out there and had some amazing blocks tonight."
On UTSA:
"You have to give them credit for what they did. They made adjustments, especially during the fourth set, and they beat us in the set with that adjusted lineup. They have the best right-side scorer in the conference. They had been really good in set five and when they got the lead at 8-5, for us to come out of the switch and score a few points there was huge."
On the attacking performance from Cassie Weaver and Jac'cara Walker:
"In the first couple sets, there were more errors than we could afford. After that, they really kept the errors in check and that's a big difference maker for us. They have to be okay with just bringing the ball inbounds instead of trying to kill everything because when they keep us alive, our defense is doing really well."
On the team:
"The most important thing and the fun about it is watching them play together and that's what they did for the most part today. They played together and not as individuals and today was wonderful."
UP NEXT
Marshall returns to the Cam Henderson Center on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m. against FIU. The game was originally scheduled for last Friday but was postponed due to Hurricane Matthew.
