Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Evansville
@HerdVolleyball Sweeps Evansville in Season Opening Match
8/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Marshall volleyball (1-0) opened up its 2016 campaign by sweeping the Evansville Purple Aces (0-1) in straight sets, 3-0 (25-8, 25-16, 25-20), on Friday evening at the Indiana Invitational.
"Good start to the season for sure," Herd coach Mitch Jacobs said. "The thing I liked most about today was our energy. They played together very well and whoever got called upon to enter the match did something to help us be successful."
Senior outside hitter Cassie Weaver paced the Thundering Herd with 12 kills, attacking at a .409 percentage. Marshall offensively was also powered by senior Ally Kiekover with nine kills and freshmen Madison Hill and Jac'cara Walker with eight kills each. Junior Kayla Simmons and freshman Madelyn Cole recorded 19 and 17 assists, respectively. Senior libero Allie Kellerman headed the defense with nine digs, while Hill tallied two blocks.
"Our ball control did a good job keeping us in system for most of the match and that was probably the difference maker," Jacobs said. "We also did a really good job not giving points away. Offensively Kayla [Simmons] kept us very calm and Madelyn [Cole] got some early jitters out and our attackers were fantastic at not trying to do too much with every ball and got after the ones they felt comfortable with."
Marshall came out strong in the first as it jumped out to an early 6-3 lead after two kills, back-to-back aces by Walker and forcing two errors on defense. The Herd went on to take control of the set by scoring nine straight points that featured four kills by Weaver. The Thundering Herd closed out the set by taking 10 of the final 15 points. Marshall hit at an impressive .500 efficiency for the set with 16 kills.
Marshall continued its momentum into the second set by scoring the first three points. The Herd pushed its lead to four, but the Purple Aces rallied to bring the set within two points. Marshall and Evansville remained close until the Herd scored three straight points to take a 15-9 lead. After a timeout, the Thundering Herd scored four more points and pushed its lead to 19-10. Marshall went on to finish the set by forcing a Purple Aces' error.
The most contested set would be the final set of the match. Marshall took a 4-1 lead to begin the third, but Evansville rallied to tie the set at four. From there, it became a back-and-forth match with neither team gaining an edge. The biggest lead was two points held by Marshall at the 16-14 mark. After a Herd timeout was called with the score at 20-19 in favor of the Purple Aces, Marshall scored the next six points to clinch the three set sweep.
Marshall finished the match with 10 players recording a dig, while eight had at least one kill. The Thundering Herd held a .389 hitting efficiency.
For all the latest information about Marshall volleyball, follow @HerdVolleyball on Twitter and Marshall University Volleyball on Facebook.
Up next, the Thundering Herd returns to the court on Saturday at the Indiana Invitational. Marshall will play Northern Kentucky at 10 a.m. and Indiana at 7 p.m.
---HerdZone.com---
