Volleyball: WVU Rolls Past Elon
September 03, 2005 02:47 PM | General
September 3, 2005
AKRON, Ohio - The West Virginia University volleyball team got its second win of the weekend at the Akron Early Bird Invitational defeating Elon 3-0 (30-14, 30-26, 30-22) on Saturday in Akron, Ohio.
The Mountaineers (3-2) improved to a winning record, led by Kelly Mullins with a team-high 19 kills and 9 digs. Stephanie Zolna added 14 kills and 11 digs for the win. Kailee Goold came up big for West Virginia with 5 kills, 39 assists and 8 digs.
"Stephanie and Kelly each had a great hitting game today," assistant coach Camille Gutierrez said. "Kailee also did very well. She set some great balls and ran a really solid offense."
In game one, WVU cruised to an easy 30-14 victory behind 7 kills from Mullins and Zolna contributing 6. Game two proved to be a more contested match, with the Mountaineers and Phoenix trading points before WVU closed it out with a score of 30-26. But it was in game three that the Mountaineers put Elon away. With the game tied 11-11, WVU used a 9-3 run to put them up 20-15, before ending the game at 30-22.
West Virginia outpaced Elon (0-3) in kills 52-30. Aurora Ebert-Santos had another great defensive game with 14 digs, adding to the team total of 56. Gina Cusanelli had 5 kills and 4 digs, with Lisa Hough and Julie Hockenson adding 4 and 3 kills respectively.
"We definitely played much better today and it's a great way to go into tonight," Gutierrez said. "Against Akron, we'll need to focus on our side of the net, making smart decisions."
The Mountaineers will close out play in the Akron Early Bird Invitational tonight against host Akron at 7 p.m.
