JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven University volleyball team registered two victories on Friday at Rugg Arena to kickoff their 2018 campaign at the Belhaven Classic.
The Blazers defeated both Mississippi University for Women and Central Baptist College with 3-0 sweeps.
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INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Belhaven 3, MUW 0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-10) Â Belhaven 3, Central Baptist 0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-16)
Records: Belhaven 2-0 | MUW 0-2 | Central Baptist 1-3 |
Location: Â | Rugg Arena | Jackson, Miss. |
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- MUW Match
- The Blazers never trailed and maintained a 15-11 lead midway through the set.
- After a quick timeout, Belhaven won the final 10 points of the set and lead 1-0 early on.
- The second set was back and forth with neither team claiming much momentum. The set was tied at 12 apiece until Belhaven won three straight points to pull ahead 15-12.
- The Blazers never trailed for the remainder of the set again, Â and a service ace from Sydney McEachern gave BU a 2-0 set advantage.
- With a two set lead, Belhaven looked to win the third set and record a sweep.
- The Blazers jumped ahead and led 7-2 to hold a comfortable lead.
- The Green and Gold continued to roll and built a 15-5 lead.
- With a large lead, MUW was never able to find their momentum, and the Blazers cruised to an easy 25-10 set victory to win the match.
- CBC Match
Against Central Baptist, the Blazers got off to a fast start in the opening set.
- Leading 13-10, Belhaven won five straight points later on in the set to build their advantage out to 18-10.
- After an attacking error on the Mustangs and kills from Ryan Hardin and Carissa Pauda, the Blazers claimed the opening set 25-14. Belhaven got off to a slow start in the second set and trailed early by a score of 8-4. The Blazers regrouped and knotted things up at 15 apiece moments later.
- The set was tied up again at 17 before Belhaven ripped off eight out of nine points to claim the set 25-18.
- Belhaven dominated early on in the third set with quality attacking and solid net play to hold a 14-7 lead.
- Central Baptist sliced the deficit down to four at 15-11, but the Blazers found their groove quickly and won five consecutive points to lead 20-11 and eventually pull away to win the match.
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KEY STATISTICS
- MUW Match
- The Blazers recorded a .600 hitting percentage in the opening set, and finished with a .356 hitting percentage for the match.
- As a team, Belhaven recorded 36 kills.
- Ryan Hardin and Lauren Whiting each tabbed nine kills apiece in the win. Whiting also finished the match with a service ace.
- Jackie Fredericks and Evelyn Parker both added six and four kills respectively.
- Sydney McEachern posted a team-high 14 digs.
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- CBC Match
- Belhaven again recorded 36 kills as a team in the victory.
- BU tallied a .550 hitting percentage in the third and final set.
- Jackie Fredericks led the way with 11 kills, while both Whiting and Hardin finished with six kills each.
- Freshman Emily Carroll notched four service aces and three kills.
- Evelyn Parker recorded five kills and a block assist.
- Meghan Luker and Whiting placed two service aces apiece.
- Additionally, Luker finished with 18 assists, while Grace Eidson added 13.
- Sydney McEachern registered 12 digs.
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UP NEXT
Belhaven will play again tomorrow at Rugg Arena against MUW and Central Baptist at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
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