Volleyball Sweeps Florida Atlantic

Box Score (PDF)

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall volleyball team defeated the Florida Atlantic Owls in three sets (25-17, 25-16, 25-23) on Sunday in the Cam Henderson Center. Redshirt senior Ciara Debell moved up the Marshall record books into ninth place all-time in career kills (998).

The Thundering Herd improved to 7-4 overall and 5-4 in Conference USA. The Owls fall to 1-9 and 1-7 in conference action.

"I am really proud of the grit our team showed today," Herd head coach Ari Aganus said. "We rallied through some tough moments and were able to come out on top. Offensively, having Ciara (Debell) able to lead us and step up as the leader I know she is, was exactly what we needed. Our blocking was not where it needs to be, and we have to come into tomorrow with more of a defensive mindset. I'm proud and encouraged for our bounce back from last weekend but still have a lot to clean up to move forward."

Debell along with senior Sydney Lostumo and junior Sarah Schank were all honored with commemorative volleyballs before the match for career milestones. Debell with her 1,000th career kill and Lostumo her 1,000th career assist, both marks were achieved against Xavier on Feb. 14. For Schank, it was reaching 500 career digs versus Charlotte on Feb. 8.

Debell entered the Sunday match with 1,071 kills in her collegiate career and 985 during her time with the Herd. In the second set, Debell recorded her seventh kill of the match that moved her ahead of Elizabeth Herman (2007-10) for ninth all-time in team history with her 992nd in a Herd uniform. Debell finished the match with 13, and needs just two more to tally her 1,000th while at Marshall. The Ocala, Fla., native added nine digs, one assist and one ace.

Senior Destiny Leon and junior Macy McElhaney both finished with seven kills. Leon added four blocks to continue her streak to 39-straight matches with a block, and a career-high six digs with five coming in the third set. McElhaney tallied one block and she has now recorded at least one block in 11-straight matches.

Sophmore Megan Taylor recorded five kills to tie her season-best and had two blocks. Junior Zoie Holley earned her second start of the year and finished with two kills and a career-high two blocks. Freshman Anna Calcagno had 10 digs, two assists and one kill.

Lostumo ended the day with 30 assists, her tenth match of the season with at least 30, and added five kills as well as six digs. Lostumo was effective with her attacks hitting .625 (5-of-8). Schank led the Herd once again in digs with 14 and added three assists. Freshman Riley Winslow recorded seven digs and two assists.

The first set belonged to the Herd as the only time the score was tied was at 1-1. A service error from the Owls gave Marshall back the lead, and the Herd never looked back beginning with a 4-0 run. After Florida Atlantic closed the gap to three, 10-7, Marshall maintained a lead of 5-of-8 points throughout the rest of the set. A kill from Taylor ended the frame, 25-17. For Taylor it was her second kill of the set. Debell tallied five kills and Lostumo had 12 assists.

The Owls came out firing in the second set, building out a 5-point lead, 6-1. From there it was all Marshall. The Herd rallied with a 9-2 run as a kill from Lostumo gave Marshall a 2-point lead, 10-8, and FAU called its first timeout. The run finally ended at 7-0, but then the Herd rolled out another 7-0 run to take a commanding 19-9 lead. A block by McElhaney and Leon ended the set and put Marshall up 2-0. The Herd hit .296 while the Owls finished with a -.057 attack percentage in the second set.

Marshall led from beginning to end in the third set even though Florida Atlantic kept it close. The Owls closed the deficit to one three times after both teams reached over 20 points, the last coming at 24-23. Finally, an error from FAU ended the set and the day as the Herd finished with the sweep.

Marshall and Florida Atlantic meet again on Monday at 12 p.m. It is the final home regular season match for the Herd. The match will be streamed on HerdVision/CUSAtv as well as broadcast on 88.1 WMUL-FM and online at www.marshall.edu/wmul.

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!

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Team Stats

Ciara DeBell

Destiny Leon

Macy McElhaney

Sydney Lostumo

Players Mentioned

Anna Calcagno

Ciara DeBell

Zoie Holley

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Macy McElhaney

Sarah Schank

Megan Taylor

Riley Winslow

Players Mentioned

Anna Calcagno

Ciara DeBell

Zoie Holley

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Macy McElhaney

Sarah Schank

Megan Taylor

Riley Winslow

Marshall University Athletics