NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball won the opening set in dominant fashion 25-12, but Southern Miss won the next three sets for a 3-1 final on Thursday night at the ODU Volleyball Center.
“We started off really well,” said ODU head coach Fred Chao. “I don’t think we did anything different, they just started playing better and put a little pressure on us. With a young squad, the pressure is going to get to us at some point.”
ODU falls to 4-16 overall and 1-8 in Sun Belt play.
USM 3, ODU 1
Rita Benidio scored three early kills as the Monarchs raced out to a 7-1 start to the first set, forcing a timeout by the Golden Eagles (14-6, 6-3). ODU went up by 10, 14-4 as Elisa Maggi scored back-to-back kills before making a block with Tiana Stubbs. USM didn’t help its chances with four straight errors that gave Old Dominion a 22-8 cushion, and Wiktoria Zagumny assisted Maggi on set point at 25-12.
In the second set, three straight ODU errors and a kill by USM’s Emily Davis gave the visitors control at 14-11. Katie Rakoski responded with a pair of successful attacks to open up a 5-0 run as the Monarchs jumped ahead, 16-14. ODU held onto that lead until three consecutive aces highlighted a 6-0 spurt that allowed USM to overtake ODU, 23-18. That margin proved too much for the home team, and the Golden Eagles pulled even with a 25-21 decision.
ODU built a 4-1 lead in the third set and stretched that to 13-9 as Rakoski and Stubbs put away balls from Zagumny. However, Southern Miss caught up at 17-17 and used a late 6-1 push to grab a 24-21 advantage. Benidio staved off set point with two more kills, but Morgen Durgens assisted Davis for a 25-23 tally.
The Monarchs dug themselves a 14-7 hole in the fourth set. After burning a timeout, Rakoski and Emma Schelah had successful attacks and Kate Kilpatrick served an ace to help cut the deficit to 14-10. Zagumny and Stubb recorded a block to get the Monarchs to within 17-15, but the Golden Eagles countered with another couple of aces for some space at 20-15. Some USM attack errors allowed ODU to fight back to within 23-21, but the Golden Eagles captured the victory with a 25-22 final.
Benidio hit for a .366 clip and set a new career high with 17 kills. She added eight digs, two assists, and one service ace to her final line. Maggi followed with 13 kills and added 16 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, and Zagumny tallied 44 assists on the night. Kilpatrick had 22 digs, one dig shy of matching her season high, and Stubbs led ODU at the net with five blocks.
Asked about Benidio’s performance, Chao added, “She may have played like a freshman early on, but I never really considered her a freshman. She’s an experienced player and we’re just kind of waiting for her to get comfortable and get a feel for it. And today was one of those days where she showed that she can do that.”
There were 18 ties, 12 of them in the second set, and nine lead changes. The Monarchs outhit their opponent .227 to .197, to include hitting a combined .364 in the first set and .297 in the fourth. They also made more blocks, 7-4, though USM served more aces, 8-3.
Up Next
The two teams meet again tomorrow for another 6 p.m. start.