Lostumo and Debell hit Career Milestones as Volleyball Rallies for Victory over Xavier

Final Box Score (PDF)
Postgame Press Conference: Sydney Lostumo | Ciara Debell | Coach Ari Aganus

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – It was almost complete déjà vu as the Marshall volleyball team rallied for the five-set comeback victory (25-19, 14-25, 28-30, 25-14, 15-10) for the second time this season against the Xavier Musketeers. The Sunday victory in the Cam Henderson Center also featured a couple of milestones as senior Sydney Lostumo recorded her 1,000th career assist and redshirt senior Ciara Debell earned her 1,000th career kill.

Marshall improves to 3-1, while Xavier falls to 2-3.

"(The win) feels really, really nice," head coach Ari Aganus said. "And not just the win, but like we talked about on Monday when I feel that we didn't show up mentally, today was one of those days where it felt like everything clicked. Even in that bad loss in the second set (25-14), which makes you cringe a bit, the bounce back and the mental state of (our players) is exactly who we are trying to be.

"For my perspective, win or lose, we took a step in the right direction from where we ended on Monday. It feels really good."

Lostumo entered the match needing just eight assists to reach 1,000. The senior setter reached the milestone in the first set on a kill from freshman Anna Calcagno that put the Herd up 15-11. Lostumo finished the match with a career-high 64 assists. She is the first Herd player to tally 60 or more helpers in a match since Madelyn Cole had 61 at Charlotte, back on Nov. 6, 2016. Lostumo recorded 14 assists in the first set on her way to the career-day. She added 12 digs to reach her second double-double of the year and had a career-high four total blocks.

Debell came in to the day needing 16 kills to make it to 1,000 and finished with 19, a season-high. The outside hitter crossed the milestone with her first kill in the fifth set, which was also the first point for the Herd in the period. Debell rang up six kills in the third set to help the Herd battle. She now has 1,003 kills in her career with 917 during her time at Marshall and 86 from the start of her collegiate career at Florida Gulf Coast. Debell could still reach 1,000 with her time just with the Green & White. She tallied her third double-double of the season adding 11 digs.

Junior Macy McElhaney led the Herd on offense with a career-high 22 kills and hit at a .568 clip. She added three blocks, five digs and one ace to her tally for the day. Calcagno recorded her second double-double of the year with 10 kills and a career-high 20 digs. The freshman has tallied double-digit digs in all four matches to begin her career. Senior Destiny Leon had seven kills and three total blocks. Redshirt freshman Olivia Fogo finished with six kills and two blocks. Junior Zoie Holley earned the start, played in the first two sets, and had a career-day with three kills on four attacks, a .750 hitting percentage. Junior libero Sarah Schank totaled 27 digs and tied her career-high with three service aces. Freshman Dominique Turner recorded seven digs and two assists, while redshirt sophomore Hayley Delor made her Marshall debut (transfer from Urbana University), and had one dig.

The day's action was a battle right from the start. The first set featured seven ties and two lead changes. However, Marshall took control at 9-8 on a solo block from Calcagno and led the rest of the way for the 25-19 win.

The second set belonged to the Musketeers as there were just two ties. Xavier took the lead for good at 3-2 as the Herd just could not find its rhythm. The match was tied at 1-1.

In the third set, neither team was going to go down without a fight as there were 19 ties and seven lead changes. It was a classic battle all the way through the finish. Marshall tied the match at 23-23 on a block from McElhaney and Lostumo. Xavier then took the lead and the teams continued to trade points back-and-forth. The Herd took the lead again at 28-27 on a kill from Debell but just could finish as Xavier rolled off a 3-0 run to take the set and the lead in the match at 2-1.

Just like the last time these two teams played, back on Jan. 31, the Herd had to rally from trailing after the third set. The fourth set was a big boost to Marshall as this time the Herd took the lead for good early, 6-5, and did not look back. A kill from McElhaney put the score to 17-12 in favor of the Herd, who was on a 4-0 run, and led to a Xavier timeout. The timeout did not stop Marshall's momentum as the run continued with five more points to make it a 9-0 run, and the Herd led 22-12. A kill from Leon ended the period as Marshall tied the match at 2-2.

The fifth set was another back-and-forth affair early with six ties and three lead changes. Xavier took its last lead of the day at 6-5. Marshall then blasted off a 5-0 run to take command at 10-6 with the final point of the run coming on an ace from McElhaney. The Musketeers closed to within two at 12-10, but did not score again as a kill from Leon, a Xavier error, and then a kill from McElhaney put the exclamation point on the contest.

Marshall is back in action Sunday and Monday, Feb. 21-22, at FIU.

For all the latest information about Marshall volleyball, follow @HerdVolleyball on Twitter and Marshall University Volleyball on Facebook.

To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules, and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!

---HerdZone.com---

Lostumo and Debell hit Career Milestones as Volleyball Rallies for Victory over Xavier

Next Event

Team Stats

Macy McElhaney

Ciara DeBell

Anna Calcagno

Destiny Leon

Players Mentioned

Anna Calcagno

Ciara DeBell

Hayley Delor

Olivia Fogo

Zoie Holley

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Macy McElhaney

Sarah Schank

Players Mentioned

Anna Calcagno

Ciara DeBell

Hayley Delor

Olivia Fogo

Zoie Holley

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Macy McElhaney

Sarah Schank

Marshall University Athletics