ASHLAND, Ohio – The Ashland volleyball team fell in four sets on Friday (Oct. 22) night at Kates Gymnasium to GLIAC North foe Northwood, 25-21, 25-22, 26-28, 25-17.
The Eagles (13-8, 6-6 GLIAC) dropped the first two sets before picking up a thrilling 28-26 win to extend the match into the fourth set. Northwood won the fourth set wire-to-wire.
Ashland led the first set, 12-9, but the Timberwolves (10-10, 7-6 GLIAC) scored the next nine points to take an 18-12 lead before going on to the 25-21 win. In the second set, AU led, 16-14, but NU went on a 7-0 run and took command of the set.
Neither team led the third set by more than two points in a back-and-forth affair. Ashland staved off a match point when junior Anesia Benton (Lima, Ohio/Senior) drove home a kill to tie the match at 24-24. Freshman Kate Eckels (Loveland, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame) had a kill to drive off another match point to tie the game at 25-25.
Senior Sophie Paddock (Girard, Ohio/Hubbard) gave the Eagles a lead before NU's Tatjana Rajic tied the set again at 26-26. Sophomore Brittany Snider (Olmsted Falls, Ohio) finished the set with a pair of kills. AU hit .349 in the third set.
The Eagles could not carry the momentum into the fourth set, however, and were sent to their first home loss of the season.
Benton led the Eagles with 13 kills in 24 attacks with three errors. Snider finished with 12 kills and a team-high 15 digs. Senior Lauren Schweitzer (Dublin, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) finished with 12 digs and four assists. Sophomore Crystal Elliott (Canal Winchester, Ohio) led the Eagles with 35 assists.
The Eagles have a quick turnaround on Saturday (Oct. 23) as they will host Lake Superior State, which fell at Lake Erie on Friday night. The match is set to start at 1 p.m.
AU
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