The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Sports

September 20, 2008

Cougars win one, lose one

By Randall Jett

Mountain State University won bragging rights between the two Raleigh County institutions of higher education for the year, defeating Appalachian Bible College 25-11, 25-13, 25-19 Saturday in volleyball action at Van Meter Gymnasium.

The Cougars put together an all-around effort on the floor to control the match.

“We’ve been working a lot on our serve receive this week to attack the serve,” MSU coach Tim Berry said. “That worked out pretty well in the first match.

“Everybody on the team knows their jobs. We switched our system from a 6-2 to a 5-1 and didn’t miss a step.”

In game one, MSU jumped out to a 6-0 advantage off the serving of Sam Daniels and never looked back. The Cougars smothered the floor, holding the Warriors to just three service points.

ABC (1-6) found its footing in game two and trailed the Cougars 12-10. Sarah Bartlett’s play at the net kept the Warriors close. The sophomore from Holland, Mich., had six kills in the game.

“They did excellent,” ABC coach Greta Dick said. “I’m very, very proud of them. We had a couple of girls missing. My girls adjusted and worked hard. We’re still young, so it’s OK.”

MSU (11-6) surged ahead behind the net play of Julie McGaughram, who had seven of her nine kills in game two.

The third game was a battle early. Tied 17-17, ABC committed a service error to give the Cougars the advantage they needed to close out the match. Nicole Agambar served up four straight points, including an ace, to ignite MSU.

“(MSU) had some good servers,” Dick said. “They know how to place it. We just have to adjust. We’re learning. We learned a lot this game.”

Daniels led the Cougars at the service line with 11 points and five aces to go with her 28 assists, while Amber Lilly and Jordan Moser had seven points apiece.

Jennifer Baltrym topped the Cougars with 11 kills.

Fortunes turned for MSU against Lynchburg (Va.) College in its final match.

The Hornets defeated the Cougars 25-23, 25-17, 14-25, 25-22.

Coverage woes led to the Cougars’ demise. Time and time again, the Hornet front row found holes to drop the ball in for crucial points.

“We’ve struggled with our blocking in the last three games, so that’s been our focus all week — blocking, blocking and blocking,” Hornets coach Beth Ellinger said. “We’re a really young team. I just have a hard-working team and they’ll just spike to the death. We may not be better than you, but we’re going to work as hard as you.”

Elena Kritter topped the Hornets with 11 kills, while Chelsea Jones added eight. Ashley Stokes finished with five blocks.

“Defensively, we play very weak,” Berry said. “They have a good, strong offense. We just didn’t bring our game in here to play a team like Lynchburg.”

Jennifer Basher had 15 kills and five blocks for the Cougars. Baltrym added eight kills and three blocks. Jesica Green had 16 points from the service line.

“Our setting and our hitting was OK, but without that defense, that takes a big part of you out of the game,” Berry said. “So far this year, our defense has been pretty strong. It’s just one of those days.”

In the third match, Lynchburg (9-7) downed ABC 25-10, 25-7, 25-9.

Former Woodrow Wilson standout Leah Allen had three service points with an ace and two kills for the Warriors.

MSU travels to the Rio Grande (Ohio) Tuesday, while ABC travels to Freewill Baptist Thursday.

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