NORFOLK, Va. – The alumni were in attendance as Old Dominion volleyball treated them to a 3-0 sweep of Southern Miss on Friday night to split its Sun Belt series with the Golden Eagles.
“We turned a corner tonight as a team,” said ODU head coach Fred Chao. “I’ve said all along that we can play at a really good level, but we haven’t sustained it. Tonight we looked and played like a more experienced team. When we were behind in the score, we stayed together and trusted each other.”
The Monarchs also took a moment following the second set to recognize their alumni who made the trip back to campus this weekend. The group included former players Jordan Daniel, Ashley Peroe, Madeline Rudd, Hailey Duncan, Olivia De Jesus, and Anna Burkhardt as well as the team’s former statistician, Sydney Strawbridge.
“Having the alums back certainly inspired me,” continued Chao. “Spending my free time reflecting on the short history of the program and then seeing the faces of the people who made it happen was good for my soul. Our alums will always be a priority for me, as teams will come and go, but the mark of a strong program is the support from the players who have been through it.”
With the win, ODU is now 5-16 on the season with a 2-8 mark in league play.
ODU 3, USM 0
Elisa Maggi opened the match with a service ace and USM’s Emily Davis responded with a kill to knot the first set at 1-1. ODU took over from there as a service error, a block by Emma Schelah and Katie Rakoski, and a kill by Schelah put the Monarchs back in front, 4-1. Maggi scored three-straight kills to add some separation at 10-6, and another 3-0 run forced a Southern Miss timeout at 15-9. The Golden Eagles (14-7, 6-4) couldn’t find their way back into the set as ODU held on, 25-16.
Southern Miss put together a 5-0 run to grab an 8-5 lead in the second set. A few rallies later, ODU evened the score 9-9 as Rakoski and Tiana Stubbs denied a USM attack attempt. The visitors pulled away 22-16 on a service ace by Kaylee Lowther, but Rakoski converted a couple of attacks to narrow the gap, 23-20 as the Golden Eagles needed a timeout. Out of the break, Kate Kilpatrick served an ace before another kill from Rakoski opened up a 4-0 run as ODU went up 25-24. USM evened the set at 25-25 and again at 26-26, but Wiktoria Zagumny assisted Schelah before Stubbs and Maggi made a block to secure another set point at 28-26.
The third set remained close early. With ODU holding onto a narrow 12-11 advantage, Benidio scored a ball from Zagumny and then proceeded to serve an ace as the Golden Eagles used a timeout trailing 14-11. Another two kills for Maggi made it a 21-18 Monarch lead late, but the Golden Eagles stayed in striking distance on a Davis kill and an attack error by Maggi. Brynn Botkin staved off match point with a kill that cut ODU’s lead to 24-23, but Rakoski sealed the victory with a successful swing.
Maggi paced the offense with 17 kills while hitting for a .273 mark. She also collected seven digs with one service ace and one block. Rakoski contributed seven kills with three blocks, and Benidio finished with six kills, three aces, six digs, and two blocks. Zagumny ended up with 37 assists and seven digs while Kilpatrick served two aces with eight digs and four assists. Peji led the Monarchs with 11 digs and Schelah matched her season high with six blocks.
ODU outhit USM, .320 to .196. The Monarchs also edged the Golden Eagles in kills (42-40), assists (42-38), aces (6-3), digs (42-41), and blocks (9-6). There were just five lead changes in the match and 12 ties, eight of them in the second set.
Up Next
Old Dominion will travel to Huntington, West Virginia next Friday and Saturday to take on East Division foe Marshall. The two teams will start at 6 p.m. on Halloween before returning for a 1 p.m. match on Nov. 1.