WILMORE, Ky. – Asbury volleyball (7-5, 2-2 CCS) battled through nine sets on Saturday inside the Luce Center, falling in a five-set conference matchup with Belhaven before responding with a four-set victory over Spalding.
AU opened the day by taking the first two sets against Belhaven, but the Blazers rallied to steal the five-set contest, 18-25, 21-25, 25-14, 25-22, 16-14. The Eagles answered later in the day with a 3-1 win over Spalding, dropping the opening set before taking three straight, 18-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-23.
Asbury 2, Belhaven 3
Asbury came out strong against CCS opponent Belhaven, using a balanced attack to take the opening set, 25-18. The Eagles produced 17 kills in the frame while hitting .213 before carrying the momentum into a 25-21 second-set victory.
AU's serving helped separate the Eagles in the second. Asbury recorded six aces in the set and jumped ahead 4-0 behind the serve of Sara Beth Gray. Later, Isabelle VandeSchraaf helped ignite another extended run as the Eagles moved in front 20-11 before eventually securing the set.
Belhaven responded in the third, taking the set 25-14, before the Eagles raced to an 8-1 advantage to begin the fourth. Belhaven worked back into the set, eventually tying the score at 13-13. The teams continued trading points through a 19-19 tie before the Blazers closed out a 25-22 win to force a fifth.
The deciding set remained tight. Belhaven went ahead 13-9, but Asbury battled back behind kills from Megan Schelling, Aliah Jones and VandeSchraaf. Consecutive AU points tied the set at 14-14, but Belhaven collected the final two points for the 16-14 decision.
Abigail Bruner led the AU attack with 15 kills on a .400 hitting percentage, adding a block. Schelling followed with 12 kills, while VandeSchraaf recorded 11 kills, 12 digs and three service aces. Julia Wright supplied nine kills and three solo blocks, and Jones finished with seven kills and three total blocks.
Gray handed out 29 assists with nine digs and two aces, while Katelyn Chapman added 16 assists and 10 digs. Defensively, Lilly Cowing led Asbury with 27 digs, and Ashlynn Smith collected 18 digs and three aces as AU totaled 93 digs in the match.
Asbury 3, Spalding 1
The Eagles quickly regrouped in their second match of the day, overcoming an opening-set loss to defeat Spalding in four.
The Golden Eagles controlled the first set, 25-18, before Asbury's attack came alive. AU hit.444 with 15 kills and only three attacking errors in the second set, using a late run to pull away for a 25-17 victory and even the match.
Asbury continued its offensive efficiency in the third, hitting .389 with 15 kills and just one error. AU jumped in front 4-0 behind Anna Miles' serve before extending the advantage to 13-7. The Eagles maintained control from there and took the set, 25-14.
Spalding pushed AU throughout a tight fourth set that featured eight ties and five lead changes. After falling behind 19-17, Asbury answered and eventually drew even at 20-20. VandeSchraaf delivered a kill to put AU ahead 21-20, and the teams traded points until the set reached 23-23. Wright then put Asbury at match point with a service ace before an attack error from Spalding finished the 25-23 set and the 3-1 Eagle victory.
VandeSchraaf led Asbury with 16 kills and 14 digs, producing a .256 hitting percentage. Bruner delivered an efficient performance with nine kills and no errors on 15 attacks (.600) while adding two block assists. Alana Creasey also finished with nine kills and two block assists.
Wright turned in an all-around performance with seven kills, 14 assists, six digs and three aces, while Gray dished out a team-high 19 assists with seven digs. Miles added seven digs and two aces, and Ariana Bluestein tied VandeSchraaf for the team lead with 14 digs.
Asbury finished the Spalding match with 49 kills, 57 digs, five service aces and seven total blocks, holding the Golden Eagles to a .111 hitting percentage. The victory moved AU to 7-5 overall and 2-2 in CCS play.
*
Isabelle VandeSchraaf | 27 K, 26 D, 3 SA
*
Abigail Bruner | 24 K
*
Megan Schelling | 17 K
*
Sara Beth Gray | 48 AST, 16 D, 2 SA
*
Julia Wright | 16 K, 23 AST, 4 solo blocks, 3 SA
*
Lilly Cowing | 27 D
The ladies will travel to Hanover, Ind. to take on Hanover College on Wed., Sept. 30 at 7 PM.
* Our vision is to serve, train, and compete for the glory of God
* Follow @asburyeagles on Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube
* Watch all TeamAU home games live at Asbury Sports Digital Network.com
* Use the links attached to team schedules to watch live or follow live stats
* Shop AU gear via the "Shop" button at asburyeagles.com
