STATESBORO, Ga. – Old Dominion volleyball made a late push in the third set, but the Monarchs were unable to keep the match going as they fell, 3-0 at Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon.
“We had some good moments today,” said ODU head coach Fred Chao. “We put some different players in to find some answers from last night’s match. We made a push in the end, but fell short of the set win. We’ll focus on the upcoming opportunities to compete.”
GS 3, ODU 0
After falling behind 4-1 at the start of the first set, kills by Leilani Lawrence and Emma Schelah saw the Monarchs (4-11, 0-4 Sun Belt) back within a point at 4-3. Down 9-5, a Lawrence kill sparked a 4-0 run that was capped off by a block by Emma DiRocco and Rita Benidio, tying the set at 9-9. Following another tie at 10-10, the Eagles (12-4, 4-0) took off with six unanswered points, highlighted by a pair of Reagan Barth service aces. Trailing 21-15, the Silver and Blue earned three straight points to force the hosts back to their bench, but the Eagles held on for a 25-20 decision.
The second set was even at 3-3 in the early going, but GS put together a 4-0 run to create some separation. Later in the set, Schelah had a successful swing before DiRocco and Kyra Hampton denied an Eagles attack attempt to cut the deficit to 10-7. That’s when the home team erupted for an 11-1 run as the Eagles went up 2-0 in the match with a 25-11 tally.
GS built a 5-1 lead to begin the third set, but ODU was able to catch up at 11-11 thanks to consecutive kills by Taylor Motes and Lawrence. The Eagles pulled away again, 23-18, but Wiktoria Zagumny converted a couple of attacks, Weronika Urbanska terminated a ball, and a couple of GS attack errors allowed ODU to pull even again at 23-23. Despite the late fight by the Monarchs, the Eagles claimed the final two points to finish the match in straight sets.
Urbanska, Benidio, and Lawrence scored seven kills each to pace ODU’s attack. Motes also made her first appearance of the season, contributing two kills and one dig. Zagumny finished with 10 assists, followed by Erica Duffy with seven and Hampton with five. Lawrence served the Monarchs’ only ace on the day. After setting a new career high with 17 digs in Friday’s Sun Belt series opener, Adrienne Peji bettered that effort with a 19-dig performance. DiRocco recorded two blocks while Benidio and Hampton made one each.
ODU was held to a .096 hitting percentage for the match and the Monarchs allowed five service aces. They were also out blocked by the Eagles, 11-2. Saturday’s match had only seven ties and just one lead change.
Up Next
ODU returns to Norfolk to host a Sun Belt series versus Coastal Carolina next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9-10, at the ODU Volleyball Center.