Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Radford
Bucknell Volleyball Falls to Radford, Rutgers at Home Invite
9/19/2009 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 19, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Allison Gittings (Dayton, Md./Glenelg) and Ragin Jackson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) were named to the Bucknell Invitational All-Tournament Team, but the two Bison's strong play was not enough to keep their team from falling in both its matches on Saturday in Davis Gym. Bucknell (4-8) slipped against Radford, losing 3-1 (10-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-19), before going down 3-0 to Rutgers (25-20, 25-23, 25-18) later in the day.
Gittings turned in one of her strongest tournaments to date by registering 77 assists over the weekend. The senior setter narrowly missed setting a season high in assists with 30 against Rutgers.
"Allison did a really great job this weekend of distributing the ball," head coach Cindy Opalski said of her co-captain. "From start to finish, this was her best weekend overall."
Jackson tallied 20 kills and seven blocks through three matches. The freshman's .326 hitting percentage was second on the team to Gittings who hit .353 with seven kills.
Jackson's strong hitting gave her eight kills in the matchup with Radford (8-6). She just missed becoming the fourth Bison in double-digit kills during the contest. Kaitlin Segal (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Harvard Westlake) led with 16 kills, followed by Heidi Kamp (Eugene, Ore.) with 11 and Kyleigh McAhren (Napa, Calif./Justin-Siena) with 10.
Bucknell came out on fire in the first set of their opening match. It took the team just 14 minutes to defeat Radford in the first by a score of 25-10. Bison hit .333 in the set, but the story was their serving. Bucknell rolled of six straight points with Emily Sawanobori (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) at the service line to earn the 9-2 advantage.
Rachel Rodriguez (Sagamore Hills, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) stepped up to the line two points later and led the team to a 17-3 lead after getting seven consecutive points on her serve. That stretch included three straight service aces from the junior.
Radford found its rhythm in a hurry, however, and took early control of the second set. The Highlanders never gave up that control for the remainder of the match. After hitting .000 in the first set, they came back for a .353 average in the second to power their way to a 25-21 set win.
Bucknell threatened at various points through the final three sets but was unable to string together enough points to put up a definite run. Both the third and fourth sets ended with the Bison down 25-19.
The match with Rutgers (6-7) played out much the same way as the end of the Radford match. After a disappointing first set in which the Bison fell 25-20, they showed some more signs of life in the second. Bucknell led late, forcing Rutgers to call a timeout. The favor was returned five points later as Bucknell called time with their lead in danger. The Scarlet Knights then clearly took control of the match as they continued to hold the lead until the day's end.
Rutgers' win over Bucknell gave it a 3-0 record at the tournament. The success resulted in the title of tournament MVP going to the Scarlet Knights' Hannah Curtis. Joining Curtis, Jackson and Gittings on the All-Tournament Team were Kiley Kent and Mariah Nussbaum of Radford, Emma Chrystal of Rutgers, and Martina Ferrari and Cassandra Joyner of Delaware State.
In other tournament action on Saturday, Rutgers defeated Delaware State 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-9). Radford also defeated the Hornets 3-1 (25-15, 24-26, 25-18, 25-22).
After spending much of the non-conference season on the road, Bucknell will remain in the friendly confines of Davis Gym for a second straight weekend when it takes on Army on Friday, Sept. 25. The Patriot League opener is slated for 7 p.m. Live stats on GameTracker and video on Bison Vision will be available at BucknellBison.com.
