Published: September 30, 2007 12:06 am      

MSU sweeps Tech

It didn’t take Mountain State long to take control of the opening volleyball match of Saturday’s quad at the Van Meter Gymnasium. The Cougars jumped out to a 10-2 advantage over WVU Tech in game one and rolled to a 30-14, 30-18, 30-19 win.

Jennifer Baltrym led the Cougars’ attack at the net with nine kills, while April Warden, Jesica Green and Jennifer Basher contributed five kills apiece.

“Our front row has been great with blocks and attacks on the net,” MSU coach Tim Berry said. “They’re controlling the net. We’ve found that when we can control the net, we’re pretty much going to win.”

Green and Samantha Daniels dished out nine assists each, while Jennifer Sloan and Amber Lilly finished with 17 and 15 digs, respectively.

“Our back row, Jenn Sloan did a great job back there and our freshman Amber Lilly stepped up,” Berry said. “Our sets were just a little off but our hitters have such control on the net. They can take a set that’s not quite right and adapt.”

Add in some pinpoint serving to complete the dominant performance for the Cougars.

Sloan accounted for 20 service points with eight aces. That included five service points that were all aces in the second game.

Amber Lilly tallied 11 service points with two aces, while Jennifer Lilly added 10 service points with four aces.

Green and Daniels completed the scoring from service with nine and eight points apiece with two aces each for Mountain State.

Mishay Cooley, Amber Camp and Tameka Nelson were bright spots for the Golden Bears.

“WVU Tech has certainly improved from last year,” Berry said. “They had a good setter. They’re hitting well but they’re a little light on the defense yet. When they strengthen that defense up I think they’ll be a real formidable opponent in the NAIA.”

Cooley had nine kills, while Camp had six service points with two aces and seven kills and Nelson finished with five service points, one kill and 23 digs.

“It takes us a while to get started,” Bears coach Amanda Fowler said. “We have a couple of injuries but we’ll pull it together. We’re a very young team.

“There’s been a lot of improvement but we’re still not where we need to be. We’ll get there. It just takes time. You can’t build a program in two years.”

In later matches, MSU defeated Pikeville (Ky.) College 30- 25, 20-30, 30-24, 30-23 and Berea (Ky.) College 30-9, 30-9, 30-12. Tech picked up its first win of the season, 30-23, 30-20, 25-30, 30-22, over Berea College and lost to Pikeville 18-30, 13-30, 16-30. Pikeville beat Berea 30-9, 30-6, 30-12 in the remaining match.

Mountain State (17-7) travels to play the University of the Cumberlands Thursday, while Tech (1-12) hosts Pikeville College Wednesday.