ADRIAN, Mich. – Behind a season high 22 kills from
Maria Coelho the Lady Tiger volleyball team improved to 4-1 on the season and 4-0 in four set matches. This time against the University of St. Francis on Friday afternoon. They defeated the Fighting Saints, 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23) in the first of four matches at the Siena Heights Invitational.
Behind the 22 kills from Coelho the Lady Tigers also had stellar performances from
Kaite Johnson who finished with 13 kills and 16 digs, her third double-double in five matches.
Paige Merrick had her fourth double-double in five matches with 33 assists and 14 digs.
Jaimie Thompson had her first double-double of the season with 10 assists and 26 digs.
The first set was another tight one for the Lady Tigers as neither team ever led by more than four points, a 15-11 lead for St. Francis was the widest score margin in the first set. In the second set Campbellsville scored the first four points and jumped out to a 9-5 lead overall. The Fighting Saints rallied with a 6-2 run to tie the match at 11-11 but a service error by St. Francis gave the momentum back to the Lady Tigers. They capitalized as
Julia Fonseca tallied a service ace followed by back-to-back kills from Coelho and then a third straight kill from Merrick led to a 16-11 lead and a Fighting Saints timeout. St. Francis rallied with a 6-1 run following the timeout that tied the set at 17-17, the two teams then went back and forth on the way to a 25-23 Campbellsville set win.
An 11-2 Campbellsville run midway through the third set made a 13-11 St. Francis lead turn into a 22-15 Lady Tiger lead. Eight straight serves which resulted in seven Lady Tiger points by Johnson was the key catalyst in the run. She had three service aces as well as a pair of kills from Coelho and
Irene Baroni. St. Francis won four of the final seven points as CU took the 25-19 win.
In the fourth set the largest lead for either team was four points. The Fighting Saints had two four point leads at 4-0 and 5-1, Campbellsville did not lead by four until the end at 24-20. There were seven lead changes and 14 ties in this set, but in the end Campbellsville came out victorious 25-23 and won the match 3-1.
So far this season 14 of 21 sets played by the Lady Tigers have been settled by five points or fewer. Match number two of the night pits Campbellsville vs. Rochester College at 8 p.m. ET.
