Aug. 29, 2008

Final Stats

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – (Friday, August 29, 2008) The Redhawks volleyball team started their 2008 campaign with a tough 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23) loss to South Dakota State in the opening match of the Blue Raider Bash in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Friday afternoon. Despite outhitting their opponents percentage-wise (.185 to .132) they struggled receiving serves and couldn’t get pass the frontline of the Jacks when they had looks.

The Redhawks (0-1) fell behind quickly in the first set and couldn’t overtake their early deficit falling 25-20 in the opening set. The Redhawks recorded ten kills to the Jacks (1-0) nine but the Jacks, a 2007 NCAA Tournament qualifier, held the advantage in attack percentage.

Set two was all Redhawks as they coasted to a 25-19 win. The Redhawks hit a scorching .268 percent in the set and held the Jacks to 11 kills on 47 total attacks.

With the match tied at one set apiece the Jacks won the crucial third set 25-20. After leading 5-2 on a Karleigh DeLong (Corona, Calif./Santiago HS) kill the Jacks rallied to take the lead as they went on a 8-0 run highlighted by four aces by Mackenzie Angner to take a 11-5 lead. That lead would climb as high as eight points as the Jacks led 20-12. The Redhawks went on a 7-2 run to get within three points 22-19 but the Jacks would win three of the final four points for the set three victory.

In the fourth set the Redhawks again fell behind early falling behind 8-4 which quickly became a 17-11 lead for the Jacks. The Redhawks went on a 8-4 run to cut the lead to 21-19. The two teams went back-and-forth until the Redhawks made it a one point game at 24-23 on a Angner attack error. Angner would redeem herself on the next play as she recorded the match-winning kill to secure the victory.

DeLong recorded a double-double with a team-high 10 kills and 12 digs. She also added three block assists and one solo block.

Junior Molly Davis (Muncie, Ind./Burris HS) extended her streak of double-digit dig matches to 32 matches as she finished with a team-high 17 digs.

Sara Barth (Germantown, Ill./Central Community HS) finished as the team leader in assists with 28 dishes and also added seven digs

Emily Hughes (Memphis, Tenn./St. Benedict HS) finished with a match-high attack percentage of .462 as she recorded eight kills on 13 attacks. Senior Aubrey Dondlinger (Palos Heights, Ill./Parkland College) finished with nine kills and hit .240.

Angner finished with a double-double with a match-high 17 kills and 17 digs. Rachel Dahl finished with a match-high 22 digs and Melia Iwamoto finished led all players with 34 assists. Kelli Fiegen and Ellyce Youngren finished with 10 kills and 11 kills respectively.

The Redhawks finished with an attack percentage of .185 against the Jacks percentage of .132. The Jacks made the difference up at the service line where they recorded 11 aces (five by Angner) and at the net with 13 block assists and 7.5 team blocks.

The Redhawks return to the court tomorrow as they take on 15th-ranked and tournament host Middle Tennessee State at 12:30 p.m. in Alumni Memorial Gymnasium and then conclude the tournament with a match-up with Idaho at 4:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available for the match against Middle Tennessee State on www.goblueraiders.com or click here for access.