FREDERICK, Md. - After coming back and avoiding a straight sweep, the Hood College women's volleyball team were stopped in the fifth set by Widener in a Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth match.
Set Scores
The Pride won 25-15, 28-26, 18-25, 20-25, 15-10.
Inside the Box Score
MacKenzi Wright (Hagerstown, Md./South Hagerstown) led the Blazers with 17 kills as well as four service aces.
Ainslee Barger (Poolesville, Md./Poolesville) finished the match with 25 assists, with Jackie Malitzki right behind her with 24.
Ann Ofoegbu (Falling Waters, W.Va./Spring Mills) ended the night with 19 digs, with
Ashley Donald (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) tallying 17 of her own.
Logan Burge (Urbana, Md./Urbana) was credited with three blocks.
How it Happened
After a back-and-forth start to the first set saw the score even at 12-12, Widener went on a 13-3 run to take the first set, capped off by a kill from Shannon Toomey.
The Pride took the early lead in the second set with back-to-back aces from Julia Schwab, but the Blazers kept the set close with kills from Wright, Burge, and
Sami Betley (Bel Air, Md./Mercy). After trailing 19-15, a handful of kills from Wright and Ofoegbu would give the
Blazers a 26-25 lead, but the Pride would finish the set with three-straight points, including kills from Toomey and Alex Verchio.
Hood took advantage of some early Widener miscues to take a 9-6 lead in the third set. Back-to-back service aces from Barger gave the Blazers a 21-16 cushion before Wright helped end the set with a kill and back-to-back aces of her own.
The fourth set saw another tug of war to start off, but with the score tied 13-13, the Blazers would go on a 5-2 run with four kills split evenly between Ofoegbu and Betley. The Pride would only ever get within one point afterwards as Hood would finish the set scoring five of the last six points to force a decisive fifth set.
The Blazers took a 3-2 lead to start the fifth set, but the Pride would take the lead after that and not let it go, closing the match out with a kill from Abigail Herrin.
For The Opponent
Toomey led the Pride in kills with 17.
Megan Barthol finished the match with 48 assists.
Barthol, Julia Schwab, and Rachel DiCarlo all had 17 digs, with Schwab adding seven service aces.
Notes
The Blazers fall to 6-10 overall, 1-2 in conference play, while the Pride improve to 10-6 overall, 1-2 in conference.
Up Next
The Blazers play a tri-match against FDU-Florham and Marywood in Scranton, Pa Saturday, October 7 at 1 and 3 p.m.
