NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball was up two sets to one on Arkansas State, but the Red Wolves won the fifth set 15-8 on Friday night at the ODU Volleyball Center.
With the loss, ODU drops to 16-11 overall and 5-9 in conference play. The Monarchs also recognized its seniors in Hailee Blankenship, Jennifer Olansen, Alice Munari, Myah Conway and Sydney Strawbridge in a ceremony prior to first serve.
“I’m proud of the way the team responded today,” said ODU Head Coach Fred Chao. “Senior Day is always emotional, but the players channeled it into one of our stronger performances this year. We fell short in the end, but for long stretches of the match, we were the better team. Our seniors will be missed, and our fans honored them with their energy tonight.”
A-State 3, ODU 2
The Red Wolves (24-4, 14-2 Sun Belt) took a 10-5 lead early in the first set. An Emma Schelah solo block, an A-State service error and a Blankenship kill helped trim that lead to 13-11, but the guests pulled away again, 21-13. Conway scored a couple of late kills to get to within 23-19, but ASU’s Abby Harris converted a couple of attacks to clinch the set point at 25-19.
In the second set, a couple of Conway scores along with two Munari kills and an ace by the Italian native allowed ODU to go ahead 14-11 with a 6-1 swing. After A-State pulled even at 16-16, Elisabeth Levick assisted LeeAnne Lowery to open a 5-0 run by the Monarchs. The Red Wolves put together a late 4-0 push, but Schelah put away a ball from Ashlynn Belcher to even the match with a 25-23 decision.
ODU won another set, 25-17 for a 2-1 overall lead in the match. Up by a point a 6-5 in the third, Elisa Maggi scored a kill before Lowery and Munari teamed up for a block. Munari then scored two more kills, Blankenship served an ace, and an ASU attack error gave ODU a 12-5 advantage. ASU hung around and fought back to within three at 19-16, but ODU secured six of the last seven points.
The Monarchs jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the fourth, but a 9-1 swing shifted momentum towards the Red Wolves and they wrestled away control, 18-11. ODU couldn’t recover and A-State forced a fifth set with a 25-17 tally.
In the deciding set, a Conway score made it 3-2 in favor of the home team. That was ODU’s last lead of the match though as ASU put together a 6-1 swing to pull ahead 8-4 as the teams switched sides. The sides then traded several points before the visitors closed out the match with four unanswered points.
Munari and Conway led the attack the 18 and 16 kills, respectively, and Maggi also finished in double figures with 10 kills. Belcher and Levick combined for 46 assists and Munari served two aces. Defensively, Schelah made six blocks while Munari, Maggi and Lowery had two blocks each. Kate Kilpatrick ended up with a team-high 14 digs, Munari was right behind her with 13 for a double-double, Blankenship also tallied 13, and Belcher had a double-double with 10 digs.
The Monarchs hit a combined to hit .234 while the visitors hit .269. ODU registered more kills, 64-61, but A-State led in every other category. There were a total of 16 ties on the night, with six in the second set and six more in the fourth. The match also featured seven lead changes, four of them coming in the fourth set.
“Thank you to all of the fans that supported us this season,” added Chao.