Herd Volleyball Splits a Pair of Contests on Day One of the Miami Invitational

Box Score vs. Bellarmine
Box Score vs. Miami (OH)

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall volleyball team (2-3) started the day with a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 29-27, 26-24) of the Bellarmine Knights and dropped a narrow five-set decision (25-21, 21-25, 25-16, 20-25, 16-14) to the Miami (OH) RedHawks on Friday at the Miami Invitational.

"Our sweep against Bellarmine is one to be proud of," Herd volleyball head coach Ari Aganus said after day one of the tournament. "Once we got into the second match with Miami (OH), we made way too many errors and missed assignments. However, we fought hard as a unit and we were able to adapt with multiple lineup changes. Preseason tournaments are for us to figure out where we're strongest and where we need to improve. We're encouraged to make some changes and get after it with Middle Tennessee tomorrow morning."

Match One: Marshall 3, Bellarmine 0
Graduate student Macy McElhaney finished the contest with a double-double, recording 11 kills and 11 digs in the victory.

Junior Regan Tinkle tied McElhaney for the team-high in kills with 11 and graduate student Kaitlyn Gehler led the Herd with 15 digs.

Senior Lydia Montague scored a team-best 12.5 points and led the Herd with four blocks, including one solo rejection. The middle blocker also had 10 kills in the win.

Sophomore Brynn Brown had 30 assists in the victory.

In the opening set, the Herd trailed the Knights early on 4-2. However, Marshall took the lead, 6-4, on a 4-0 rally, including a pair of kills by Brown and one by Montague, and never relinquished the lead. After the Knights tied the set 9-9, the Herd rattled off four straight points on a pair of kills by Tinkle and a kill each from Macy McElhaney and redshirt junior Olivia Fogo to go up 13-9. Bellarmine never got closer than three points the rest of the set as MU closed it out on a 3-0 run with Montague closing it out with a kill to take the set 25-19. The Herd committed just two errors on 34 attacks in the first set for a .441 attacking percentage.

Marshall started the second set where it left off in the first with a 3-0 rally. The rest of second frame was an ebb and flow between the two squads. It featured eight lead changes and the score being tied eight times. The Herd was on the verge of closing out the set when it led 24-20. However, the Knights came back with a 4-0 rally to tie the contest, 24-24. This did not put down the resilient Herd though. With the Bellarmine leading 25-26, Marshall scored four of the final five points in the set to take the second, 27-25. Tinkle recorded three kills in the final four points tallied by the Herd.

The third set was a see-saw battle. Neither team led by more than three points, the score was tied 18 times and it featured three lead changes. With the scoreboard reading 23-23, the Green and White put up three of the final four points in the final stanza, including kills by Brown and Macy McElhaney. The set and match were sealed for the Herd on a Bellarmine attacking error.

Match Two: Miami (OH) 3, Marshall 2
Brown recorded her third triple-double of the season with 31 assists, 20 digs and 10 kills against Miami (OH).

Tinkle led the Herd with 11 kills as Montague recorded a match-high seven blocks. Gehler led all student athletes in the contest with 25 digs.

The RedHawks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first set over the Herd. Marshall battled in the opening set, tying the score six times, including 19-19 late in the framed, but couldn't quite on top of the hosts as it fell 25-21 in the first.

The Herd trailed 7-5 early in the second. The visitors used a 3-0 rally, including a kill and service ace by Montague, to grab an 8-7 lead. The score was tied twice, but Marshall did not fall behind Miami (OH) from that point on. Montague closed the second with a pair of kills in the final three points as it went to the Herd, 25-21.

MU dropped the first six points of the third set and couldn't find its footing in the frame as it fell 25-16.

The Herd didn't let the third set deter it from fighting to stay in the match. The two squads battled for the lead early in the fourth set as it was tied 11-11. However, Marshall took a 16-12 lead after taking five of the next six points and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way. The Herd closed the set (25-20) with a kill by Montague and a service ace by Gehler to force an all-deciding fifth set.

The final frame of the contest saw Miami (OH) jump out to a 7-3 lead. Marshall slowly chipped away at the deficit and took a 10-8 advantage after a RedHawk error. Miami (OH) came back the as two teams traded points until the home side took the final two to close out the set 16-14 and take the match.

UP NEXT
Marshall closes out the Miami Invitational on Saturday against Middle Tennessee. The match is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m.

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

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Herd Volleyball Splits a Pair of Contests on Day One of the Miami Invitational

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Team Stats

Macy McElhaney

Regan Tinkle

Lydia Montague

Olivia Fogo

Players Mentioned

Brynn Brown

Olivia Fogo

Kaitlyn Gehler

Macy McElhaney

Lydia Montague

Regan Tinkle

Players Mentioned

Brynn Brown

Olivia Fogo

Kaitlyn Gehler

Macy McElhaney

Lydia Montague

Regan Tinkle

Marshall University Athletics