NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball looked to force a fifth set on Thursday night with a late 5-0 run, but Arkansas State held on for a 3-1 final to take the first match of the Sun Belt Conference series.
“The effort was good. I think we missed on some execution, especially on our block defensive side. They were able to score a lot right through the middle and we need to be better at stopping that. We played well other than that aspect. If we can put that together tomorrow, I like our chances,” said ODU Head Coach Fred Chao.
A-State 3, ODU 1
The opening set remained close as three kills by LeeAnne Lowery tied the score at 5-5, 6-6, and again at 7-7. After the Red Wolves (23-4, 13-2 Sun Belt) went up 11-8, Elisa Maggi put away a ball from Ashlynn Belcher and then served an ace to get ODU back to within a point. The visitors then took off with four straight points and the Monarchs (16-10, 5-8) couldn’t recover as A-State won the set, 25-17.
Three ASU attack errors and an Alice Munari ace built a 4-0 ODU lead to start the second set, but the Red Wolves countered with a 7-0 stretch that put them ahead, 10-7. Two aces from Emma Schelah and a third by Elisabeth Levick highlighted an 8-1 swing as the Monarchs regained control at 19-18. Kills from Myah Conway, Bryanna Jones and a bad set by the guests then allowed the Monarchs to pull even in the match with a 28-26 decision.
Arkansas State seized the lead early in the third set, 8-3 with a 6-0 run, and a couple of ODU attack errors made it a larger deficit at 12-5. Belcher assisted Jones and Lowery then recorded a solo block to help trim the ASU lead to 16-13, but the Red Wolves took off with another five unanswered and secured another set point at 25-16.
The visitors ramped up their serving in the fourth set with another five aces as A-State built a 20-11 advantage. Facing match point at 24-18, three aces by Schelah and a pair of Conway kills kept ODU’s chances alive. The Red Wolves then challenged a Hailee Blankenship kill and upon review, the ball was ruled to have been out.
“We had that set back earlier in the season against Marshall that kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit. So for this team to find that again and to keep having that determination to win, it’s a good sign,” Chao said of the late fight his team showed.
Conway swung for a .424 hitting percentage and led the Monarchs with 15 kills, and Munari hit .258 and finished with 12 kills and a team-high nine digs. Belcher tallied 32 assists with six digs, Levick ended up with 12 assists, and Schelah served five aces. Lowery recorded three blocks, two of them solo, and Blankenship and Kilpatrick had seven digs each.
ODU hit .206 as a team, but A-State combined to hit .357 for the match. The Monarchs served one more ace, 10-9, but the Red Wolves held the advantage in every other category. There were a total of 18 ties, eight of them in the second set, and nine lead changes.
Up Next
ODU and A-State return tomorrow for another 6 p.m. match in what will mark Senior Day for the Monarchs. Sydnee Strawbridge, Blankenship, Jennifer Olansen, Munari and Conway will be recognized in a ceremony before first serve.
“All of them have contributed and elevated our program in their own way,” Chao said of his seniors. “The one that everyone sees is Myah, and you can’t deny everything that she’s produced for this program. But Ali and Hailee and Jenn, they’ve all contributed to this program as well. And Sydnee has done a lot behind the scenes that people don’t know about in terms of keeping scouting for us and doing stats for us. So it’s going to be tough to see them go.”