Skyhawks hit mark with 3-1 win over SIUE Cougars – Volleyball News
The SIUE volleyball finished off the 2011 regular season with a defeat from UT Martin on Friday, November 11. Skyhawks of UT Martin wiped out the dreams of Cougars and posted a 3-1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 25-18) victory. Cougars ended up the season with overall
record of 13-19 and 8-12 conference record, while victory in Friday’s match improved Skyhawks’ win/loss ratio to 17-12 and 12-7 in the conference.
UT Martin controlled the action in the match by a solid defence. Flawless blocking allowed them to maintain a better position in match. Britany Wilburn recorded splendid eight blocks and also clipped in 11 kills for Skyhawks.
On the other hand, Cori Harris and Brooke Smith put up a great effort for SIUE. They added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Overall, Cougars totalled 57 kills in the match and recorded a hitting percentage of .188, whereas UT Martin contributed 52 kills with
hitting percentage of .168.
The match was opened with an early lead from UT Martin. Attack errors by Cougars helped them raise the score. They kept the operations well under until SIUE Cougars scored back to back points and equalled the score at 20-all. Cougars’ Hemann was the key
player in creating the tie of scores. However, UT Martin changed the strategy and went up. They sealed first-set win by posting 25-20 on board.
Cougars played with steady hand in the second set and used strong attack by Hemann, who recorded five kills. Meanwhile, Harris also joined hands with Hemann and allowed SIUE to win second set, 25-17.
The play was tight again in the third set as Cougars struggled to maintain their better position in the match. Nonetheless, UT Martin refused to accept their dominance. As a result, the match turned into a heated competition. UT Martin proved to be the better
team and extended its lead to 2-1 by close margin victory in third set, 25-23. Moreover, they continued with success in fourth set and captured the frame with the help of 25-18. SIUE had no choice but to regret the loss of season finale.
Head Coach of SIU Edwardsville, Leah Johnson, praised the good work of both teams. She expressed her thoughts after the match: "It was a great effort defensively on both sides of the net. When one team competes that hard, it only challenges the other team.
I am happy that we responded with that equal defensive mindset."
She further added: "I'm very proud of what we have done this season. I think our team has come a long way. We have shown a lot of growth and you see that in how our scores have gone throughout the season.”
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