KIRKSVILLE, Mo – The Ashland Univerity women's volleyball team won in three sets against Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) on Friday (August 31). The win helped the Eagles move to 2-0 on the day.
After handily winning the first two sets, 25-18 and 25-17, the Eagles snuck by the Tritons in set three, 25-23 to end the day unbeaten.
Ashland started the first set off right by earning the first point. UMSL won three consecutive points early on in the set putting the Tritons up, 4-2. After point exchanges the teams were tied at nine. Crystal Elliott (Canal Winchester, Ohio / Canal Winchester) set up Brittany Snider (Olmsted Falls, Ohio / Olmsted Falls) for her third kill of the set, which started a 5-0 run. Marci Zegarac (Lansing, Ill. / South) added the second service ace of the set allowing the Eagles to go up 14-9. The score was 20-14 after Elliott assisted Maureen Johnson (Crystal Lake, Ill. / Crystal Lake South) for the kill. UMSL tried to make a quick run, but ended with an attack error, giving the Eagles the set point.
The second set was close for the majority of play, the contest was tied 13 times. The Eagles and Tritons were last tied at 16. UMSL won only one additional point in the second set. Kate Eckels (Loveland, Ohio / Mount Notre Dame) added a service ace to go up 20-16. A play from Elliott to Snider gave the Eagles a 23-17 advantage, while UMSL ended the set with two attack errors.
Ashland took the early lead in the third set by winning four rallies after UMSL opened up with a 1-0 lead. The Tritons added two points, but it was the Eagles who advanced the score to 7-3. Ashland kept at least a two-point lead until UMSL took advantage of an attack error and added another point from a kill by Haley Woods. The teams rallied back and forth keeping the score close. UMSL went ahead, 23-22, but a quick kill by Snider from Elliott tied the set. Megan Rohlfs (Loveland, Ohio / Mount Notre Dame) helped Snider to her 17th kill and Zegarac ended the set and match with her third ace of the night.
Errors proved to be a key factor in the 3-0 win. USML had 23 errors in the match, the Eagles 13. Ashland recorded 41 kills, 39 assists, 9 aces while attacking the ball 109 times. Snider's 17 kills led all players in the contest (17-6-20/.275). Zegarac had three aces.
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