NORFOLK, Va. – Elisa Maggi secured match point with her 1,000th career kill and Old Dominion volleyball opened its final Sun Belt series of the season with a 3-1 win over ULM on Friday night at the ODU Volleyball Center.
Maggi, a senior outside hitter from Pavia, Italy, became just the second Monarch in program history to reach the career milestone. Alumni Myah Conway was the first to accomplish the feat with a 21-kill performance in ODU’s 3-1 win over Southern Miss on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.
Needing 17 kills coming into tonight’s match, Maggi said she was aware of how close she was getting.
“I was counting the kills, but halfway through the game I was like ‘It’s okay, I don’t need to get there, we just want to win.’ That’s the most important part."
“But I love how all of my teammates were aware of it too and were telling me to calm down. I didn’t even have to remember it, so I thought that was really cute of them.”
“I can only imagine that it’s a big sense of accomplishment,” ODU head coach Fred Chao said of Maggi’s achievement. “She’s grinded it out for so long, and for her to have this milestone I think is really meaningful.”
ODU 3, ULM 1
Two three-point runs put the Monarchs (7-19, 3-12 Sun Belt) up 7-3 early in the first set, courtesy of attack errors and kills. Though two attack errors and a kill from ULM put them up, 13-12, at the halfway point. Points were exchanged until another three-point run put the Warhawks (9-20, 3-12 Sun Belt) up, 19-16. Maggi and Emma Schelah collected kills to regain the lead for the Monarchs, 21-20. The set was tied at 24-24 following two Warhawk kills from Grace Troxell and Aniya Hall, though Emma DiRocco and Maggi put the set away, 26-24.
With the second set knotted at 6-6, multiple ODU errors helped the visitors put together an 8-0 run as they jumped ahead, 14-6. A couple of kills by Maggi and Rita Benidio, along with an attack error by Hall and a block by Benidio and Schelah, helped cut the deficit to 14-10. However, back-to-back service aces by ULM’s Bre Perrin capped off another four unanswered as the Warhawks pulled away, 20-11. Facing set point at 24-16, a Maggi service ace highlighted a late 5-0 push by the Silver and Blue, but ULM’s Morgan Howard assisted Hall to even the match with a 25-21 decision.
Wiktoria Zagumny assisted Weronika Urbanska to open a 5-0 Monarch run that gave the home team a 9-3 advantage early in the third set. A Tatum Clay kill got the guests back to within a point at 11-10, but ULM committed a couple of attack errors, Zagumny served an ace, and Benidio terminated a ball as ODU led 15-10 at the media timeout. The Monarchs capped off the set with another five unanswered points, highlighted by two more kills and an ace from Maggi, as the hosts claimed another set point, 25-16.
Neither side could pull away in the fourth set. Tied at 23-23 following an ODU attack error, Howard served a ball into the net as the Warhawks were forced to burn a timeout. DiRocco and Urbanksa both scored kills to put ODU ahead 25-24 and again at 26-25, but an attack error by Maggi and a kill by ULM’s Marissa Kobelski sent the Monarchs back to their bench. Urbanska converted an attack for another tie at 27-27, and Zagumny then assisted Maggi on back-to-back kills to bring the match to a close.
“I went back row at one point, and I had two left because we went to a timeout,” Maggi continued. “Erica was telling me I needed two more and I was sure that I wasn’t going to get it. But at that point, I just wanted to win the game because I wanted to have another win on our record and the feeling of winning that we had last week against JMU was amazing. So I didn’t care [if I got it tonight], I’ll get there tomorrow.”
Maggi was quick to give praise to her teammates.
“I’m just very proud of my team. I’m proud of the coaches for everything, all of the effort they put into training me to become the player that I am today, and I can tell they really care about all of us. I’m really proud of everyone.”
Three Monarchs finished with double-digit kills. Benidio hit .289 on the night and led the way with 18, Maggi was right behind her with 17, and Urbanska finished with 11. Benidio added 10 digs with two blocks and as many assists for her fourth double-double of the season, and Maggi added 14 digs with three assists, and two aces for her third double-double this year. Zagumny and Kyra Hampton turned in 31 and 18 assists, respectively. Adrienne Peji served three aces and recorded six digs, libero Ashlyn Gent paced the back row with 19 digs, and Schelah and Zagumny combined for seven blocks.
The Monarchs outhit the Warhawks, .226 to .174. ODU also edged ULM in kills (65-48), assists (62-46), and digs (67-61). Friday’s match had 30 ties, to include 10 in the first set and 13 in the fourth, and only eight lead changes.
On joining Conway in the record book, Maggi added, “Myah for me was just the best hitter Old Dominion has ever had. So me getting to 1,000 kills, I don’t think I’m even comparable to her hitting wise. It’s huge for me and shoutout to Myah. I didn’t think I was ever going to get there because she was the only one [who had done it].”
On getting the conference win, Chao added, “It means a lot for the team. We’ve still been working really hard and like I’ve said before, they’re plugging away and really looking to be 1-0 in the next match. For them to come away with this is great, and ULM is a tough team.”
Up Next
The Monarchs and Warhawks return tomorrow for a 1 p.m. start to the regular season finale for both teams. The match will also mark Senior Day for ODU, with Peji, Maggi, and Zagumny recognized during a pregame ceremony.
“I just hope that they embrace the moment, embrace the opportunity, and play it like it’s their last match,” said Chao.