FREDERICK, Md.--The Mary Baldwin Fighting Squirrels remained
undefeated in the Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference with a 3-0
sweep (30-21, 30-23, 30-26) over the Hood College volleyball team
Tuesday at Gambrill Gymnasium.
Baldwin improves to 14-17 overall and 7-0 in the league while
the Blazers saw their three-match win streak come to an end as they
drop to 5-12 overall, 3-5 in the conference.
The first set featured eight ties, the last at 14-14. Junior
Hilary Cook served up an ace and classmate Ashley Bryan and
freshman Ashley Burns picked up blocks as the Blazers rallied from
four points down to tie the game at 14-14. But the Squirrels got
the side out on a kill by Kim Clum and never relinquished their
lead, taking the first game, 30-21. In game two, the Blazers put
together a furious rally down the stretch, rallying from 16 points
down (27-11) to pull to within six (29-23). Junior Lindsey Nagy put
down four kills in the 12-2 burst by the Blazers. But Baldwin's
Kirstin Holmberg put down the clincher to lock up the set, 30-23.
Hood got out to a fast start in game three, outscoring the
Squirrels 4-1 in the early going. But Baldwin managed to tie the
score at 5-5 on a kill by Allison Hasson, igniting a 7-2 spurt by
the visitors and the Squirrels would not trail again. The Blazers
wouldn't go away, limiting the Baldwin lead to stretch beyond seven
points. But, Hood was unable to draw closer than three down the
stretch and the Squirrels went on to capture the decisive set,
30-26 on a kill by Colena Roberts.
Nagy finished with a team-high eight kills to go along with six
digs while senior Starr McDavid paced the defense with 13 digs.
Junior Caroline Woodhams set up 11 of Hood's 18 kills and chipped
in with six digs, two kills and four service aces.
The Blazers close out the regular season Saturday when they
travel to Lynchburg, Va., for a tri-match with the Lynchburg
University Hornets and the Mountain State University Cougars
beginning at 1:30 p.m.