Women's Volleyball | 12/16/2011 11:53:00 AM
November 12, 2011 -- In one of the best matches ever played at W. L. White Auditorium the Emporia State Volleyball team fell 3-1 to #4 Washburn. The four sets saw 43 ties and 14 leads changes as ESU fell 20-25, 22-25, 25-18 and 33-35.
In the first set ESU overcame a 5-0 Lady Blues lead early to cut the lead to 17-16, but would get not close in the 25-20 loss. In the second set ESU had a lead at 14-13, but WU asnwered with two straight points to take the lead for good in a 25-22 victory. In the third set the two teams traded points until ESU took a 15-14 advantage and did not look back on the way to a 25-18 win.
The fourth set was the most points played by an ESU squad since the switch to rally scoring and a 25 point win total. After ESU took a 6-3 lead early WU battle back to tie the match at 10 apiece. Washburn would then build a three points lead of their own at 19-16. With Carly Spicer serving ESU would answer with four straight points to take a 20-19 lead and force a Washburn timeout. It was then ESU that would put Washburn on the ropes leading 24-22, but the Lady Blues responded to tie the match at 24-24.
The two teams would trade points as both ESU and WU twice stood serving at set point. The Hornets would then fight off three straight set points for Washburn before the Lady Blues finally pulled out the 35-33 victory on back to back kills by Jessica Kopp.
As a team ESU outhit the Lady Blues .177 to .176 and each team finished with 13 blocks. The Lady Blues had 100 total digs while the Hornets finished with 95 digs.
Courtney Haring led the Hornet attack with 14 kills hitting .462 and adding nine blocks. Paige Vanderpool added a double-double with 12 kills and 15 digs to go with four blocks. Katie Deutschmann came just one dig shy of having her second triple-double against Washburn finishing with 11 kills, 28 assists and nine digs.
Brianna Kaiser also added a double-double for the Hornets with 13 kills and 19 digs. Amanda Gerety finished with 20 assists and 11 digs for a double-double. Meg Schwartz had a career high 37 digs averaging a season and career best 9.3 digs per set.
The Hornets will now wait to see if they receive an at-large bid into the NCAA South Central Regional. The selections will be announced Sunday evening at 9 p.m. central time on NCAA.com.
Notes:
Meg Schwartz currently is averaging 5.97 digs per set which would set an ESU single season record
Schwartz's 698 digs is second all-time at ESU in a single season and best since switching to rally scoring
Schwartz's 37 digs tonight are the second most by anyone in the MIAA this season and is the fourth most digs in a four set match in the nation this season
Courtney Haring's 117 assist blocks is third all-time in a single season at ESU
Haring's nine blocks are the second most in a four set match in the MIAA this season
###HORNETS###
