Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Holy Cross
Bucknell Volleyball Defeats Patriot League Foe Holy Cross, 3-1
11/7/2008 7:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 7, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Four Bison hit for double-figure kills and four more had double-digit digs as the Bucknell volleyball team defeated Holy Cross 3-1 on Friday night at Davis Gym. Senior Liz Hazuka led both teams by tying her career high of 12 kills and finished second on the squad with a career-best 14 digs.
"It was a huge match for Liz Hazuka tonight, not only from the front line but also the back row," said head coach Cindy Opalski. "Liz has brought energy and enthusiasm to our court all year long, and now she's bringing game."
Bucknell (11-16, 6-5) started the match well with the help of some solid hitting. Freshman Kyleigh McAhren led off the scoring with an immediate kill. The Crusaders (1-22, 0-11) committed a pair of attack errors before they were able to put up their first point on a block assist. McAhren responded to the defensive play, however, by registering her second kill of the young night, and the Bison were up, 5-1.
Although Holy Cross reduced the lead to one at 7-6 following a Bucknell error, the Bison were never truly in trouble. The home team quickly extended its advantage to five off a kill by sophomore Heidi Kamp. After Kamp and classmate Kaitlin Segal contributed a combined five kills in the set and Hazuka added another four, sophomore Rachel Rodriguez capped off the first with a service ace. Bucknell took the opening set, 25-15.
The Crusaders turned the tables on Bucknell in the second set. Play remained close through much of the first half of play, but Holy Cross started to pull away and went up 11-9 after a pair of kills. The Bison soon found themselves down by as many as six points at 20-14.
Unwilling to go away easily, however, Kamp put a stop to the run with a kill. She repeated the feat at 20-17 before her teammates took over. Segal tallied a kill to give the Bison back the lead at 23-22, but Holy Cross tied the set again on the next point. McAhren gave Bucknell a set point, 24-23, and the Crusaders responded. Chelsey O'Donnell and Rebecca DeSanti teamed up for a block to even the contest. DeSanti and Samantha Surface then combined for another block to give their team its own set point. Mallaigh McGinley closed the second with a kill, putting Holy Cross up for good, 26-24.
The Bison were aided greatly in the third set by their ability to string together solid offensive production. Although Holy Cross tied the set early at 4 apiece, freshman Taylor Willis gave Bucknell the lead with her second kill of the night. Segal later took a one-point advantage and extended it to three following back-to-back kills for a score of 10-7.
Bucknell finished the set with an impressive scoring run. McAhren made the score 18-11 with one of her ten kills on the night. Kamp, Segal and Hazuka followed McAhren's lead and tallied four more kills to go up 22-11. With two consecutive kills, Kamp allowed the Bison to win the third, 25-12, and take the 2-1 set advantage.
The final set was smooth sailing for Bucknell as it took the early lead. Holy Cross tried to keep Bucknell within reach and put the score at 9-8 in favor of the Bison after a kill by DeSanti, but Willis answered with her own kill and the lead was back to two. Willis' fifth kill came after Holy Cross called a timeout in an unsuccessful attempt to slow the Bison's momentum. Bucknell never looked back. Freshman Katie Baumgarten gave her team a match point with her second kill of the night, and Holy Cross gave the Orange and Blue some help on the next point. A Crusaders attack error ended the match, 25-19.
Bucknell, which is again tied with Colgate for third place in the Patriot League, will benefit greatly from the all-around production it received from key players tonight as it heads into the final stretch of the regular season. As it looks to its ultimate three games, Bucknell has qualifying for and succeeding in the Patriot League Tournament on its mind.
"I was pleased with our offensive production tonight," said Opalski. "When we can get double-digit kills from four players in a night and have the highest dig percentage of the season, that tells me as a coach that we're playing in November like a team that wants to win a championship."
Kamp finished the evening with 11 kills and seven total blocks. McAhren and Segal rounded out the list of players with double-digit kills by posting 10 apiece. Segal also recorded a match-high 17 digs, which is just one shy of tying her career high. On a night full of personal bests, Willis tallied five kills, smashing her previous high mark. Senior Shannon Pitsch finished with 41 assists.
In addition to Hazuka's 14 digs, the senior right side hitter tied a career-best two blocks. The Bison also were backed defensively by 14 digs from senior Sheena Czipri and 10 from Rodriguez. Pitsch chipped in three block assists as well.
Leading the way for the Crusaders was Samantha Surface with nine kills, O'Donnell with 27 assists and five blocks, and Molly Anderson with 16 digs.
The Bison are back in action at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8 when they take on Army in Davis Gym. Live stats on GameTracker will be available through BucknellBison.com.
