CLEVELAND, Ga. – The CIU Women's Volleyball team continued to ride high on Wednesday night's fifth straight match win. The Rams avenged an early-season loss and defeated the Bears of Truett McConnell 3-2 despite being down 2 sets to 1. The win moves the Rams to 11-5 on the season and, more importantly, helps solidify CIU's spot in the AAC Conference Tournament. The Rams hold a firm grasp on the third spot in the South Division and the conference's sixth spot.
How It Happened
Set One: The Rams led throughout the first set and held off a late push from the Bears to take set one 25-23.
Megan Lung anchored the Rams with 4 kills in the first set.
Set Two: Unfortunately for CIU, the Rams could not muster much offense in the second set. They had a .022 hitting percentage and 11 errors.
Set Three: The third set was close throughout and a
Gabriela Vega kill tied the set at 20-20. However, an ace and strong attack from the Bears put the Rams away 25-23.
Set Four: With their backs against the wall, CIU responded in set four. Tied 19-19 the Rams would score four unanswered points spurred by a
Kamelia De Jesus ace and kills from Lung and Vega. CIU went on to seize the set 25-21.
Set Five: The Rams shot out to a 7-3 lead behind strong attacks from
Alana Sanjurjo and Lung. However, the Bears got as close as 14-13, but errors ended TMU's chances, and CIU notched the 15-13 win.
Game Notes:
- Megan Lung and Alana Sanjurjo provided much of the scoring for CIU as Lung recorded 19 kills and Sanjurjo had a season-high of 25 kills. Sanjurjo was consistently hitting all night with a .300 hitting percentage while having 41 receptions and 17 digs.
- Gabriela Vega came up big multiple times for CIU. The sophomore had 7 kills and only 1 error with a .462 hitting percentage. Vega played an important defensive role with 3 blocks.
- Setter Kamelia De Jesus had her second 50+ assist match of the season with 55 assists, just two shy of the program's single-match assist record.
- Emilia Niedzielska led CIU in digs with 18.
What Coach Haver is saying:
"Tonight our family showed grit. We had peaks and valleys but kept the effort and intensity up, which was crucial against such a strong TMU team in a challenging gym. Their fans were on fire and their girls played great. It's always such a competitive match when we play them. Glad we came out on top tonight."
Up Next:
The Rams will host Bluefield College on Friday at 6:30 PM.
