CLINTON, S.C. – The UNC Asheville Bulldogs rallied from a two-set deficit to earn the 3-2 (26-28, 24-26, 25-20, 25-23, 15-8) win over the Presbyterian College volleyball team tonight at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
PC drops to 8-20 overall and 6-6 in the Big South. UNC Asheville improves to 17-10, 7-4.
Leading the Blue Hose was Rachel Hall with 18 kills and Lena Gavin with a career-high 12. Halle Tripp recorded 11, while Andrea Barman and Kelly Berryman each posted 10 on the night. Ashtin Frank ended the night with 52 assists while Mary Trimpe added 34 digs.
With 61 kills and 32 errors, the Blue Hose posted a .138 hitting percentage, while the Bulldogs came away with 67 kills, 30 errors and a .186 hitting percentage. PC edged UNCA in total block, 11-10.
Christine Lakatos led UNC Asheville with 26 kills, with Anna Moore following with 13. Rachel Wells also posted 42 digs.
The Blue Hose stormed out of the gates early in the first set, building up a 12-4 lead, helped in part to three kills by Hall. PC extended its lead to eight again at 15-7, before Asheville used a 7-1 run to cut the margin to two, 16-14.
The Bulldogs kept it close the next several points, until the Bulldogs knotted the score at 19-19 off a Shelby Erickson kill. The remainder of the set saw six more ties, as both teams battled back and forth. PC had set point at 24-23, but a service error saved the Bulldogs. UNC Asheville picked up set point at 26-25 off a PC error, before Halle Tripp tied it up at 26-26. The Blue Hose would take the next two points off a Hall kill and an Asheville error to hold on to the first set, 28-26 win.
A second set start similar to the first, the Blue Hose opened up a 15-7 lead, before the Bulldogs rallied to tie the game at 19-19 with a 12-4 run. Tied 23-23, Hall used a kill from Frank to earn set point. Davis posted a kill of her own to give UNCA another chance. Berryman's kill the next point gave PC its second set point before Berryman and Gavin ended it at 26-24 off block assists.
The third set saw the Blue Hose take an early 10-3 lead, but it would not last long as UNC Asheville scored seven unanswered to tied the set at 10-10. The Bulldogs continued on what would turn into a 14-2 run to take a 17-12 lead.
PC cut the margin to three at 22-19 and again at 23-20, off a Barman kill, but Asheville capitalized on a PC attack error and a Lakatos kill to earn the 25-20 third set win.
UNC Asheville led most of the fourth set, including a 15-10 margin midway through. PC scored three unanswered, capped by two kills from Hall, to make it a two-point game, 15-13.
Trailing 24-20, the Blue Hose staged a rally with three straight, coming from Hall and Berryman kills, as well as a service ace from Mikayla Register, to make it 24-23. A Moore kill would stop the rally and give Asheville the 25-23 fourth set win, forcing a fifth and final set.
The Bulldogs took the quick 6-2 lead in the fifth set, capitalizing on blocks from Foster and kills from Lakatos. After a PC timeout, Gavin made it 7-3 with a kill of her own. Lakatos responded with a kill of her own to take the Asheville lead back up to four, 7-3.
Asheville seemed to have an answer for PC, building a 10-4 lead before a kill from Gavin and a bad set from Asheville made it a four point set again, 10-6. Two straight points from PC made it a three-point, 11-8 margin. The Bulldogs answered with four straight to set up match point at 14-8. A block by Moore and Lakatos ended the set at 15-8, giving the Bulldogs the come-from-behind win.
