CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Taking on some non-conference competition on Tuesday, the Campbellsville University women's volleyball team earned a pair of wins against Columbia International University and Indiana University Southeast at Gosser Gymnasium.
The Lady Tigers took down CIU 3-1 by set scores of 25-17, 30-28, 23-25, 25-23 and swept IUS in three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-21, and 25-10.
The four-set match against the Rams was high energy with three of the four sets finished with the minimal margin of victory at two points. CU had the match's leader in kills, assists, and digs as
Sonia Flendrich finished with 18 kills,
Paige Merrick had 60 assists, and
Katie Morin had 26 digs.
Flendrich and Merrick finished with double-doubles as both had double figures in digs with Flendrich finishing at 20 and Merrick at 11.
Sophie Ball and
Sutton Mason also produced double-doubles with 12 kills and 16 digs for Mason and 10 kills and 12 digs for Ball.
Hannah McGill did a nice job spelling Ball on the front row as she finished with 12 kills as well and a .313 hitting percentage playing three rotations up front. In the middle,
Stela Velinova and
Alina Zellin combined for 15 kills on 38 attempts with only five errors.
Columbia International had three players in double figures in kills with Abbey Kleist at 16, Shaniece Steer at 11, and Kira Rymer at 10. Setter Kamelia De Jesus had 42 assists and 21 digs in the match and libero Fabianne Besosa added 24 digs.
In the night match against the Grenadiers, Flendrich and Merrick finished with double-doubles again as Flendrich led the match with 12 kills and added 17 digs with Merrick finishing at 26 assists and 13 digs.
Mason added eight kills and didn't have a single error in the match on 22 attempts for a .364 hitting percentage. Merrick had six kills, all in the second set, Zellin added four, Ball finished with three kills, McGill had two with
Taylor Weirich and
Jalyn Michael each adding a kill apiece.
The story later in the match was the blocking effort as the Lady Tigers rejected 11 total IUS attacks, six of which came in the third set. Zellin finished with five blocks, one solo and four assists, and Michael, who only played the final set, finished with two solo blocks and two block assists.
Morin once again solidified the back row with a team-high 19 digs that came up just one shy of the libero for the Grenadiers, Lexie Fisher. IUS didn't have a great night on the attack, finishing with a team hitting percentage of .008.
Lead attacker Emilee Organ struggled in her second of back-to-back matches finishing 5-for-30 with 10 errors for a -.167 hitting percentage after recording 22 kills earlier against CIU.
Campbellsville will return to Mid-South Conference play Thursday night when they travel to Crestview Hills, Ky. to face Thomas More University for the second time this season.
