By Gordie Frierson
Laurinburg, NC - CIU Women's Volleyball traveled up to Laurinburg, NC with a 6-match winning streak on the line Tuesday night to take on St. Andrews University. The Rams and Knights came into the match tied for 4th in the Appalachian Athletic Conference South Division both sitting at 3-3 in conference play. The Rams would, unfortunately, end up dropping the match 3 sets to none to fall to 5th place in AAC South Division while St. Andrews would move to 3rd place in the division.
How it Happened
The Rams would take a commanding 8-2 lead in the first set behind the play of De'Asija Harden. However, the Knights would come storming back to tie the set at 9-9. Well placed serves from Carla Cauchi would keep the Rams in front for a large portion of the match. A Megan Lung kill would have the Rams seemingly in good shape leading 21-19. It would be the last point of the match for CIU as St. Andrews would be too much to handle and snatch the set from the Rams' grasp 25-21.
In the second set, a consistent Megan Lung attack would help CIU tie the game 9-9 after falling behind early. Gabriela Vega and Lily Tang would also make significant contributions during the set. Tang would record 2 kills during the game while Vega had both a block and a kill. Despite their best efforts, the Rams would fall behind 11-9 after the Lung kill and eventually drop the set 25-20.
Harden and Tang would lead the Ram attack in the third game keeping CIU ahead 14-12 after the Rams had trailed in the early stages of the set. Bruna Barrozo would help the Rams keep in front, thwarting the Knights scoring opportunities with skillful digs. However, errors by CIU would allow the Knights to grab a hold of the lead and finally the set, 27-25.
What Coach Haver is Saying
"We worked hard tonight, but need to get a block up on time and stay disciplined in defense. If we want to continue to win, we are going to need to consistently get our middles up so we can have options. Our serve receive and setting were strong tonight. If we can fix those things and win clutch points, we will come out on top in these coin-flip matches."
By the Numbers
Up Next
CIU will host Bryan College on Friday, September 27th in the Moore Fitness Center at 6:30 PM.
