HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Old Dominion volleyball got back in the win column on Friday night, opening its Sun Belt series at Southern Miss with a 3-0 sweep of the Golden Eagles inside the Southern Miss Wellness Center.
With the victory, the Monarchs set a new program record for wins in a season as they improve to 15-5 overall and 4-3 in conference play. Also, with seven matches remaining in the regular season plus the Sun Belt Championship, the team has cemented its first winning season in its five-year history.
ODU 3, USM 0
After USM’s Torrey Tkach scored a kill to even the first set at 5-5, the Monarchs proceeded to earn five of the next six points to take a 10-6 lead and never looked back. The closest the hosts would get was at 20-18 on a kill from Madison Baldridge, but Ashlynn Belcher assisted LeeAnne Lowery to open a 3-0 run. After the sides traded a couple points, Lowery put away a ball from Elisabeth Levick for the set point at 25-20.
ODU took an early 4-1 lead to start the next set, but Southern Miss responded with five unanswered points highlighted by a Sunni Sheppard service ace. A Lowery kill, a block assist by Lowery and Tshilanda Diouf, and an ace from Elisa Maggi put the Monarchs back in front at 8-7. The next two points went to the Golden Eagles, but a USM service error started a 4-0 swing that gave ODU the lead for good. The hosts were forced to burn both of their timeouts after falling behind 20-14, and ODU benefitted from four-straight USM errors to claim another set point at 25-17.
Southern Miss finally found its rhythm in the third set as the Golden Eagles raced out to a 9-4 advantage. Hailee Blankenship found pay dirt as her kill ignited a 4-0 run that cut the deficit to 10-9. USM answered with a 3-0 push of its own, but a Diouf kill and two more from Blankenship got the Monarchs back to within 13-12. With the set knotted at 17-17, a couple of ODU errors and an Aysu Dalogullari kill allowed USM to seize control, 20-17. ODU took a timeout and used another a few plays later as they trailed 23-19. The break was exactly what was needed as Diouf converted an attack to open a 4-0 run that evened the score at 23-23. The next point went to the home team, but kills from Myah Conway and Maggi and a service ace by Blankenship completed the sweep with a 26-24 decision.
Blankenship and Diouf paced the attack with nine kills each. Diouf swung for a .571 clip and added two digs and two blocks to her totals while Blankenship hit .250, served two aces and finished with five digs. Conway was next with eight kills and a couple of blocks while Maggi and Lowery chipped in six kills apiece. Belcher and Levick combined for 35 assists, Maggi tallied a team-high 14 digs, and Lowery and Schelah made four blocks each.
ODU combined to hit .305 as a team while holding USM to a .159 hitting percentage. The Monarchs also led the Golden Eagles in points (56-40), kills (42-34), assists (42-30), aces (6-3), blocks (8-3) and digs (50-37). There were a total of 17 ties, including eight in the final set, and eight lead changes.
Up Next
ODU and USM meet again tomorrow for the second match in the series, scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start.