Valdosta, GA – The Spring Hill College (SHC) volleyball team opened play at the Valdosta State University Fall Classic with a 3-2 win against the host Valdosta State University Blazers on Friday afternoon. The Badgers claimed the victory by scores of 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22 and 15-13.
The match was a closely contested affair throughout as the two schools traded wins heading into the deciding fifth set. No set was decided by more than 3 points throughout the match. The Badgers took an early 5-4 lead in the final set and then extended the lead to 9-6 halfway through the set. The Blazers battled back to make it 10-9 before Spring Hill extended the lead to 12-9. Valdosta clawed back to tie it at 13-13 before SHC won the final two points to close out the match.
The Badgers hit a healthy .218 attack percentage while holding Valdosta to only a .184 attack percentage. Offensively the Badgers were led by freshman
Kassandra Fairly with 19 kills, sophomore
Allison Weimer with 16 kills and sophomore
Bentley Odom with 15 kills. Junior setter
Emmarose Neibert continued her solid playmaking by dishing out 60 assists to the Badger front line attack.
Defensively, the Badgers' overall effort was solid and kept things close throughout the match.
Bentley Odom stuffed 6 Blazer attacks and junior
Sarah Senft contributed 5 blocks to the cause. Along the back row, junior Cassidy Sterrett dug up 29 shots from Valdosta while junior
Payton Gidney and senior
Randi De'Armitt collected 21 and 11 digs respectively.
"I thought we really showed a lot of perseverance as a team in today's match," said Head Coach
Peggy Martin. "We are not playing consistently very well here early in the season, but we were able to compete hard pull out a win. It's always good to have these kinds of matches early in the season where you're tested and still find a way to win."
The Badgers (2-0, 0-0 SIAC) will continue play in Valdosta, GA with a non-conference match against fellow SIAC member Albany State University at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday the Badgers will face the University of South Carolina Aiken at 9:30 a.m. to close out the weekend.
