HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Old Dominion volleyball fell 3-0 to Marshall for the second time in as many days on Saturday afternoon at the Cam Henderson Center.
“Hats off to Marshall,” said ODU head coach Fred Chao. “They played well both matches. Despite the similar outcomes, we competed better today than yesterday. Yesterday we were undisciplined and did not make plays that we should have made. In the end, we gave up too many runs of points and too many unforced errors.”
ODU is now 5-18 on the season and 2-10 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Marshall 3, ODU 0
In the first set, a solo block by Rita Benidio and another block by Wiktoria Zagumny and Emma Schelah gave the Monarchs their first lead of the match at 4-3. The Thundering Herd (14-11, 6-6) put together a 6-1 response and led 15-10 at the midway point. A couple of Adrienne Peji services aces and a kill by the Virginia Beach native highlighted a 7-0 run as ODU regained control at 17-15. The home team pulled even at 19-19 and earned three straight points to go up 23-20. Elisa Maggi and Taylor Motes scored a couple of kills, but Marshall won the set, 25-23.
The Herd scored five unanswered to jump out to a 10-5 start to the second set. Schelah put away a ball from Zagumny and Benidio then served an ace to cut the deficit to 15-12. Marshall used a timeout, and that seemed to break up the momentum for the Monarchs. The Herd earned four of the next five points and took a 2-0 overall lead with a 25-17 decision.
Four aces allowed Marshall to race out to a 9-4 lead in the third set. Tiana Stubbs and Maggi scored back-to-back kills to trim the Herd lead to 10-7, but Marshall countered with a 9-2 run to pull away, 19-9. Zagumny assisted Motes and Benidio to make it 19-11, but the Herd came away with a 25-13 tally to end the match.
Schelah scored 12 kills while hitting for a .500 clip. The sophomore from Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina also made two blocks and recorded two digs. Maggi had eight kills with five digs and Stubbs finished with eight kills and one solo block. Zagumny racked up 31 assists with six digs, Benidio served three aces with four kills, seven digs and two blocks, and Peji contributed two aces with six digs and one kill. Kilpatrick led both teams with 17 digs.
ODU hit .106 for the match, whereas Marshall swung for a .239 hitting percentage. The Monarchs edged the hosts in kills (36-31), assists (35-31), and digs (46-38), but the Herd served more aces (11-5) and made more blocks (10-4). There were only 10 ties, with seven in the first set, and five lead changes.
Up Next
Old Dominion has its final homestand of the regular season next week as the Monarchs host James Madison in the TowneBank Royal Rivalry. After a 6 p.m. match on Friday, the teams will play again at 2 p.m. on Saturday on what will mark Senior Day for the Monarchs.