NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball was unable to split its Sun Belt series with Marshall as the Monarchs came up short, 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at the ODU Volleyball Center.
The loss drops ODU to 15-8 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
“Disappointed at our results this weekend,” said ODU Head Coach Fred Chao. “Marshall pressured our serve receive and we didn’t serve well. They played dig transition really well and made it tough for us to score points. We haven’t played Monarch volleyball in a while and we need to get back to it. We have a couple weekends in front of us and need to focus on what’s ahead.”
Marshall 3, ODU 0
The Thundering Herd (13-12, 4-8 Sun Belt) served three straight aces to pull away early in the first set, 10-4, as ODU needed to call a timeout. The Monarchs couldn’t cut into that lead as Marshall secured a 25-18 decision.
A Bryanna Jones kill and an attack error by Marshall’s Audrey Geer put ODU ahead 6-4 in the second set, but the visitors pulled ahead and were up 15-12 at the media timeout. After the Herd stretched that lead to 21-15 with a 6-1 swing, a couple of Myah Conway kills helped close the gap, 22-19. ODU couldn’t catch up though as Marshall grabbed another set, 25-21.
Marshall earned seven straight points to jump out a 7-1 advantage in the third set. Hailee Blankenship and Conway scored two kills each to highlight a 6-0 response as the Monarchs pulled even at 7-7. The Herd took off again as a 7-1 push made it a 16-9 deficit. A Kate Kilpatrick ace capped off a 4-0 run for ODU as the home team got back to within three at 16-13. Late in the set, a couple of Marshall errors and a block by Blankenship and LeeAnne Lowery trimmed the Herd’s lead to 21-20, but Marshall held on 25-22 to win the match in straight sets.
Conway was the only Monarch to finish with double-digit kills on Saturday, tallying 17 while hitting for a .224 clip and adding five digs to her totals. Belcher posted a double-double with 33 assists and 16 digs, and Kilpatrick ended up with 20 digs and two service aces. Lowery made a pair of blocks, one of them solo, while Blankenship, Belcher and Schelah had one block each.
The Monarchs combined to hit .132 on the afternoon while the Herd turned in a 209 effort. ODU tallied more kills (40-37), assists (39-34) and digs (58-54), but committed seven service errors. Six of the eight ties in the match came in the second set and there were only two lead changes.
Up Next
ODU and James Madison resume their TowneBank Royal Rivalry series with a pair of Sun Belt matches on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 7-8 in Harrisonburg.