VB | Gaels Earn Split In Kansas; SMC Sweeps Utah State
9/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team swept Utah State 25-17, 25-22, 25-23 on Friday evening at Ahern Field House on the Kansas State campus. With the win, Saint Mary's improves to 5-3, while Utah State drops to 5-3.
"We played well enough to win tonight," said head coach Rob Browning. "We still haven't put it all together, but we have a lot of good things that are happening."
The Gaels got off to a blistering start by hitting at a .531 clip in the first set. Jordan Shaw led the Gaels with 15 kills in the match, while Gabby Jolly added nine kills and a team-high five blocks. Kristina Graven added eight kills on .316 hitting while Lauren Corp finished with seven kills and six digs. Dalas Dodd finished with 37 assists and the Gaels hit at a .284 clip as a team.
"We just need to find some consistency and execute over a longer period of time," continued Browning. "There are some very good opportunities in front of us in Oregon, Cal and Stanford... we are looking forward to the challenge."
SMC only committed two errors in the first set while tallying 19 kills. USU was within 15-12 before the Gaels went on a 6-2 run to open up a 21-14 advantage. The Gaels would cruise to the set win after a Jolly kill ended the set at 25-17.
In the second set, the score was tied up at 16-16 as Rachel Gillcrist gave SMC the lead at 17-16 after a kill. That sparked a 3-0 run to give SMC some breathing room. After USU came back within 19-17, Graven slammed down three consecutive kills as the Gaels began to pull away. Shaw would put down the final kill as SMC won 25-22.
USU looked to have a good shot at forcing the fourth set and avoiding the sweep. The Aggies led 21-18 after a kill. USU then committed an attack error and setting error to pull SMC within 21-20. A third consecutive USU mistake tied the set, but USU took the lead at 22-21 after an SMC error. With the set tied up at 23-23, Jolly got a kill to set up match point. Graven and Jolly recorded a thrilling match ending block for the 25-23 win for the Gaels.
Saint Mary's is back in action on Monday, when it heads to Oregon to take on the Ducks at 7:00 p.m. in Eugene.
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