Volleyball Sweeps Monarchs to end Regular Season

Box Score (PDF)

NORFOLK, Va. – The Marshall volleyball team capped off the regular season on a high note with a sweep (25-17, 25-20, 25-21) of the Old Dominion Monarchs, Monday from the ODU Volleyball Center. Senior setter Sydney Lostumo recorded her 1,000th career Marshall assist and senior middle blocker Destiny Leon tallied the 200th block of her career. Both milestones came in the second set.

The Thundering Herd ends the 2021 spring regular season with a 10-4 overall record and 8-4 in Conference USA play. The Monarchs fall to 7-8 overall and 4-6 in league action. Old Dominion will finish the regular season, March 26-27, at home against WKU.

Next up for the Herd is a spot in the Conference USA Tournament, April 1-3, in Hattiesburg, Miss.

"This was a great team effort on the road to end the regular season," Herd head coach Ari Aganus said. "I'm so impressed with the bounce back from going to five last night and coming in and taking the match in three. This team has shown so much tenacity this season with all of the hardships all student-athletes have faced. They continue to impress me and I'm so proud to have the opportunity to continue to see what we're made of."

After recording 44 assists in the five-set win on Sunday, Lostumo needed just 20 helpers to reach the 1,000 mark in her Marshall career. She had already reached 1,000 in her collegiate career back on Feb. 14 against Xavier as she came to Marshall with 392 assists during her time at Fresno State. This year, Lostumo has stepped into the role of being the sole-setter for the Herd and has thrived. On a kill for junior Macy McElhaney in the second set, Lostumo earned her 1,000th assist at Marshall. She finished the sweep with 33 and now has 1,405 in her collegiate career. The Gilbert, Ariz., native tallied 13 assists in both the second and the third sets. Lostumo added four kills, six digs and two aces. For the season, Lostumo has a career-high 541 assists and is averaging 10.02 per set.

Leon entered the match on Monday needing just four more blocks to reach 200 after tallying six on Sunday. Leon finished the Monday meeting with seven total blocks and achieved the 200 mark in the second set after recording back-to-back blocks. After tallying just nine total blocks in her first season with the Herd in 2018, Leon has been a force at the net. She finished second in Conference USA in 2019 and ranked in the top 40 in the NCAA in blocks per set. This season, Leon is again among the best blockers in the league and after Monday's match is averaging 1.31 blocks per set, with 64 total. She also continued her consecutive matches with a block streak to 41-straight. Leon also added seven kills and a career-high two aces.

Redshirt senior Ciara Debell led Marshall again offensively with 13 kills, her 12th match of the season in double-figures, and finished with a .458 hitting percentage. Debell added four digs, two blocks, one ace and one assist. McElhaney was next with eight kills and had one block. Sophomore Megan Taylor recorded six kills, while freshman Anna Calcagno tallied four kills, six digs and a career-high four total blocks.

Junior libero Sarah Schank directed the defense again and led the team with 10 digs keeping her streak alive of 14 consecutive matches with 10 or more. Schank added four assists and one ace in the sweep. Freshman Riley Winslow finished the day with seven digs and one ace.

Marshall fell behind early in the first set but fought back as the frame featured four ties and one lead change. The Herd used a 4-0 run that led to a Monarch timeout with the score at 13-11, and then held the lead for good. After Old Dominion scored to break the first run, Marshall rallied with a 5-0 run to take command. A kill from Debell moved the action to set-point, and then a block from Leon and Taylor ended the period, 25-17. It was the Herd's fourth block of the set as the team finished the day with nine.

In the second set, Marshall again trailed early at 4-1. However, the tenacity came through as Marshall went on a 9-1 run, and led 10-5. The Monarchs managed to pull the score within one point two times at 12-11 and 13-12, before the Herd started to pull away. Marshall won the second set, 25-20, on a service error.

The third set was a back-and-forth battle that featured nine ties and six lead changes. Old Dominion was not going to go away without a fight, and the Herd battled to keep the match from going to a fourth set. As a team, Marshall hit .419 in the third period. The Monarchs tied the score for the final time at 18-18. The Herd moved ahead on a kill from Leon and held on through the remainder. Back-to-back kills from Debell moved it to match-point before an Old Dominion attack error ended the day and gave Marshall the 25-21 win in the set, and the sweep.

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

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Volleyball Sweeps Monarchs to end Regular Season

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Team Stats

Ciara DeBell

Macy McElhaney

Destiny Leon

Megan Taylor

Players Mentioned

Anna Calcagno

Ciara DeBell

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Macy McElhaney

Sarah Schank

Megan Taylor

Riley Winslow

Players Mentioned

Anna Calcagno

Ciara DeBell

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Macy McElhaney

Sarah Schank

Megan Taylor

Riley Winslow

Marshall University Athletics