HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – It was a positive start to Sun Belt conference play for the Old Dominion volleyball team as the Monarchs earned a 3-1 road victory at Marshall on Thursday night at the Cam Henderson Center.
"Overall, I'm really pleased with the win," said head coach Fred Chao. "Every conference match is going to be a battle. We certainly had our ups and downs. Marshall made some very effective changes throughout and it felt like we were catching up at times. But we had strong contributions from the usual suspects as well as Bryanna Jones off the bench. We have to work harder at a couple aspects of the game tomorrow."
ODU 3, Marshall 1
The Monarchs (9-6, 1-0 Sun Belt), who came into the match ranked fifth nationally in blocks, got off to a quick start as blocks by LeeAnne Lowery, Myah Conway and Elisa Maggi helped ODU build a 5-0 lead in the first set. The Herd (8-7, 0-1) closed the gap 15-12, but a pair of Marshall attack errors and kills by Lowery and Teresa Atilano created some separation. A late kill and service ace by Alice Munari closed out the set for the Monarchs, 25-15.
Set two featured 18 ties and six lead changes. With the score even at 22-22, back-to-back kills by Bailey Burgess and a kill from Jones closed out the set for ODU, 25-22.
The third set was tied at 8-8, but Marshall outscored ODU 8-2 to pull away, 16-10. The Monarchs got back to within a point at 18-17 thanks to a Burgess kill, a block by Tessa Mati and Atilano, and a pair of Herd attack errors. However, Marshall kept the match going with a 25-22 decision.
In the fourth set, ODU broke another 8-8 tie as Lowery put away a set from Atilano. Lowery and Conway followed with a block, and a Marshall attack error gave the Monarchs control at 11-8. The Herd retook the lead 16-15 with five straight points. Both teams traded the lead another three times, and the set was tied at 23-23 down the stretch. From there, Atilano assisted Burgess on a kill and Munari served an ace to secure the match point.
Conway hit .350 for the night and finished with 19 kills, five blocks, three digs and one assist. Jones also tallied double-digit kills with 10 while hitting for .529. Munari contributed nine digs, eight kills, four assists, two aces and a solo block, and Atilano turned in a 46-assist, 12-dig double-double. Lowery led the Monarchs with seven blocks, Kate Kilpatrick had 17 digs and Maggi ended up with 10 digs.
ODU held the advantage in points (72-63), kills (57-48), blocks (11-7), assists (54-45) and digs (58-51). The Monarchs also outhit the Herd, .277 to .131, and held the hosts to a -.065 clip in the first set and a .077 hitting percentage in the third.
Up Next
ODU and Marshall continue their conference series with another 6 p.m. match on Friday.
ODU Earns 3-1 Win at Marshall Thursday
