The Missouri State volleyball team picked up a pair of 3-1 victories at the Carolina Classic Saturday inside the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Bears, now 3-3 on the season, defeated Davidson by scores of 25-20, 23-25, 25-9 and 25-18 in the morning match, and topped Georgetown 28-30, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18 in the afternoon match.
The Bears end the weekend with an 11 a.m. Sunday contest at UNC-Greensboro.
Missouri State vs. Davidson recap
Missouri State seized control of the first set after some early hot-hitting by the Wildcats with a 4-0 run to force a Davidson timeout with the score at 9-5 Bears. The stoppage did not help Davidson, as the Wildcats pulled within four points at 12-8, only to see a 5-0 MSU run that included three
Sara Staubach kills. Davidson rallied with an 8-2 run to get to 19-16, but the momentum was stopped by the team’s fourth service error in the set and MSU’s
Addie Foley landed back-to-back kills for a 22-17 lead that held up for the win. Foley had six kills on .750 hitting in the set.
Neither team gained more than a two point lead in the second set until the Wildcats ran off three in row to break the set’s seventh tie and go up 12-9. The Bears took the next three points and then got the lead back at 14-13 when Davidson reeled off a 4-0 run. MSU got a kill from Foley and consecutive aces from freshman Christina Buckner to knot the score at 17-all, and the side outs resumed to a 19-19 score. After that, Davidson jumped to a 23-20 lead and the Bears fought off one match point before the 25-23 loss.
Missouri State dominated the third set, hitting a blistering .846 (11-0-13) as a team in the 25-9 win, and came out in the fourth set with an early 5-0 run to seize control at 7-3. The Bears kept the Wildcats at a distance after that, letting Davidon as close as two points just once at 7-5 and running off four straight scores at 20-17 to get to match point with a seven point lead and win 25-18. In the near perfect third set, freshman
Kelley Michnowicz notched a kill on all five of her attempts and had four blocks.
Foley led all players with 15 kills on .375 hitting, while Staubach added 14 and hit .333.
Ashley Kell matched a career-high with 12 digs and
Bethany Fuller and Michnowicz shared team-high honors with five blocks each.
Missouri State vs. Georgetown recap
The Bears opened the match with Georgetown flawlessly, using five kills on six swings and a block to lead 6-0 in the first set. The Hoyas got within three points several times and the Bears were cruising with a 17-12 lead and a hitting percentage over .500 when GU called a timeout. The Hoyas clawed back and tied the set at 18-18 and led by a 22-19 margin before MSU scored three in a row and the back-and-forth action commenced before Georgetown came away with a 30-28 win.
Missouri State jumped out to an early lead again in the second set, going up 4-0, but this time the Bears would not make the same mistake. The defense held the Hoyas to .047 hitting while the offense swung at a .281 clip.
The third set was filled with attack errors on both sides with both teams still hitting in the negatives with the Hoyas leading 19-15 late in the period. The Bears used a 4-0 spurt to tie it from there, getting two kills and a block from Hackmann, but Georgetown called timeout and took the next point to regain the advantage. Missouri State went on a 5-0 run, using three kills from Foley to get match point and another from Fuller after a GU sideout for the 25-21 win and 2-1 match lead.
Missouri State and GU traded points to 4-4 in the fourth set when the Bears went on a 7-1 run to go ahead 11-5. The six point lead was more than enough, though Georgetown did close the score to 19-17, but MSU went on a 5-0 run at that point to seal it.
Staubach had 15 kills for the Bears, Hackmann had 14 and Foley chipped in 10, and the team totaled 15 blocks in the four sets. Michnowicz led the way in that category with nine assists and Fuller had seven.
Terri Del Conte had 21 digs.
