The Ashland University volleyball team won its third straight match on Tuesday as it took down the Lake Erie Storm, 3-1. AU is 10-3 on the season and is 4-1 in conference play. The Storm sits at 0-9, and 0-5 in the GLIAC.
The Eagles halted the Storm, 25-14, 21-25, 25-10, 25-21.
After a decisive first set win where the Eagles hit .667 from the floor, the Storm rallied and won the second set after a back-and-forth battle. The score was tied 12 times in set number two. Lake Erie held the Eagles to their lowest hitting percentage of the evening, where they averaged .116.
The Eagles flew ahead in the third set, gaining an early 10-2 lead. The Storm added eight more points throughout the third, until Alli Cudworth ended the set will a kill from Katie Siefert.
In the fourth set, it was the Storm that took an early lead, posting a 5-1 advantage after kills from Sara Aultz, and Molly Richardson. AU rallied back, tying the set at 9-9 after two straight kills from Samantha Zuber from Siefert. The score was tied again at 19-19 late in the match, but it was AU that ran away with the 25-21 fourth set victory.
Cudworth led the Eagles with 18 kills and 10 digs. Zuber had 10 kills on 16 attempts averaging an impressive .562 hitting percentage in the fourth set win. Maureen Johnson also posted double-digit kills, and controlled the net defensively for the Eagles. The senior had six of the 14 recorded block assists on the evening. Freshman setter Seifert posted a match-high 46 assists, and had four digs.
As a team the Eagles had 57 kills, 53 assists, seven aces, 55 digs, four block solos, and 14 block assists. AU hit .345 as a team.
Jamie Hoppe led the Storm with 14 kills. Samantha Knepley has 33 assists.
The Eagles play at home again this Friday at 7 p.m. against the Lakers of Lake Superior State.
AU
VB/ROC