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 Mountaineers
Rebound with Big 3-1 Win over McMurry
Photo: Head Coach Phillip White celebrates
his biggest win as a head coach.
The agony of a
tough loss was replaced 17 hours later with the
joy of victory as Schreiner defeated visiting
McMurry 3-1 in Edington Gym. One day
prior, SU suffered a tough 3-1 loss to perennial
ASC power Hardin-Simmons, but bounced back
strongly against another highly-regarded team, MU.
McMurry (9-4, 3-2 in ASC) started slowly in the
first two games. Trailing 6-1 in the first
game, MU slowly pulled even and tied the game at
20 each. From that point on, the two teams
traded points in what would turn out to be the
match's best game. MU had two game points
at 24-22, but Schreiner (6-8, 3-3 in ASC)
rallied to tie. McMurry then scored the
next two points to take the first game, 26-24.
In game two, SU again roared ahead early,
claiming a 7-0 lead. McMurry again rallied
to within two, 7-5, but the Mountaineers scored
the next four points and never were threatened
in the game as Schreiner rolled to a 25-14 win.
With the match
tied 1-1 in games, the two teams battled early
in game three. Schreiner held a 7-4 lead,
but saw McMurry reverse that and take a 13-9
lead and still led 17-13. Showing a needed
poise under pressure, SU raced ahead with an 8-1
run. SU then had a 24-22 lead and two game
points but saw McMurry cut the deficit in half
on an SU blocking error. Senior Xandria
White 4 kills), playing her first match since
injuring her knee in early September, fittingly
came up with the game-winning point on a kill
and 25-23 win.
Game four saw the two teams jockey for the lead.
It was tied 14-14, but Schreiner scored the next
four points. After a McMurry timeout, a
Kaycee Westberry (8 kills) block increased the
lead to 6 (20-14). Kills by Malorie
Westerholm (27 assists) and Caitlin Gayle (7
kills, .333 attach percentage) took care of any
comeback attempts by the visitors and Schreiner
won the match with a 25-18 win in game four.
Brittany Alvillar led a strong defensive effort
with 19 digs. Another key to the match was
a much more efficient and successful serving
effort from the home team.
A game ball may well go to new Assistant
Athletic Trainer Janel Dowdee. Under
Dowdee's care, White came back from her injury
more than one-week ahead of schedule. In
addition, Gayle was out of commission early in
this match with back troubles. She was
able to rehab and started coming into the match
in the second game, giving SU its three big
offensive threats all on the floor in the same
game for the first time during the conference
season.
The win and return of "X" give Schreiner
Volleyball and its fans great optimism going
forward the rest of the season. |
