Volleyball: Marshall Wins WVU Invitational
September 20, 2003 11:20 PM | General
September 20, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Marshall defeated the West Virginia volleyball team in an exciting five-game contest, 3-2 (30-17, 27-30, 23-30, 30-27, 15-13), to go undefeated on the weekend and win the WVU Invitational Tournament championship, Saturday evening at the Coliseum.
It was the second five-game loss of the day for the Mountaineers, and the second time they were defeated after leading 2-1 in the match.
WVU gave a stellar effort for most of the contest against the rival Thundering Herd. The two teams traded points in the fifth and final game until the score was 14-13 in favor of Marshall. The match ended after Stephanie Zolna hit an errant serve into the net.
Zolna was arguably WVU’s top performer on the weekend and racked up a match-high 21 kills against Marshall to complement nine digs and two aces. Zolna was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts.
Junior setter Brandice Studnicka had a career-high 57 assists on the match.
The Thundering Herd received an outstanding effort from tournament MVP Isabell Anderer, who notched 17 kills and had 12 digs versus WVU.
Nicole Michal tallied 16 kills and eight blocks for Marshall while Katie Stein had a team-high 55 assists and 18 digs.
Marshall’s Stein and Ashley Barnard, who had 17 digs against West Virginia, were also named to the all-tournament team.
Duquesne earned its first victory of the weekend with a 3-1 win over Morehead State earlier on Saturday. Ashley Macko, who was the Dukes’ lone representative on the all-tournament team, had a team-high 12 kills and had 12 digs while Stephanie Hopkins added 10 kills and 27 digs.
Morehead State’s Diana Zipp, who had 16 kills against Duquesne, earned all-tournament team status for the Eagles.
With three teams tied with a 1-2 match record, the tiebreaker was calculated by number of games won and lost.
The Mountaineers (2-10) return to action on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 11 a.m., when they travel to Boston College for their BIG EAST opener.
WVU Invitational Tournament Final Rankings
1. Marshall
2. West Virginia
3. Morehead State
4. Duquesne
WVU Invitational All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player: Isabel Anderer (Marshall)
All-Tournament:
Katie Stein (Marshall)
Ashley Barnard (Marshall)
Alison Zemanski (West Virginia)
Stephanie Zolna (West Virginia)
Diana Zipp (Morehead State)
Ashley Macko (Duquesne)
