WINCHESTER, Va. – The Hood College women's volleyball team picked up its first wins of the season in day one of the Shenandoah Invitational, defeating Brooklyn College 3-0 and Wilson 3-1 to sweep the day.
Set Scores
The Blazers swept the Bulldogs 25-18, 25-14, 25-23.
Hood defeated Wilson 25-20, 25-18, 29-31, 25-20.
Inside the Box Score
Ann Ofoegbu (Falling Waters, W.Va./Spring Mills) led the team with 21 kills and five service aces against Wilson.
Cam Madden (Carlisle, Pa./Big Spring) totaled 16 kills across both games.
Maria Ricketts (Adamstown, Md./New Life Christian) finished the day with 35 total assists, as well as a whopping six service aces versus Brooklyn College.
Katie Goddard (Keedysville, Md/Boonsboro) ended the evening with 22 digs.
How it Happened – Brooklyn College
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 6-3 lead to start the match, eventually making it a 13-11 advantage, but the Blazers would go on a 9-2 run to suddenly retake the lead, ending the set with a 5-1 run as Madden gave them the final point they needed to take the first set and a 1-0 lead.
Although Brooklyn College jumped out to another early lead at 4-0, Hood would figure their defense out well enough for a 15-4 run, giving them a lead they would not relinquish to put them up 2-0 and in position to get their first victory of the season via sweep.
Set three saw things switch up as the Blazers were the ones to go on early run, but similar to previous sets, the opposing team fought back to tie the game at 10 each. A Hood run was answered immediately by the Bulldogs, and the squads found themselves tied at 23-23. Madden decided she wanted to move on to the next match however, as she collected the next two kills to sweep Brooklyn College and secure the team's first win of the season.
How it Happened – Wilson
This match started similar to the previous one, as the Blazers had to battle back from an early disadvantage to take the lead, and a 7-1 run to grab an 18-8 lead seemed to put the set away, but the Phoenix refused to go away easily, going on a 6-1 run to cut Hood's lead down to four. Thankfully Ofoegbu had the team's back, getting the final kills they needed to take the early match lead.
The Blazers were in control of the second set pretty much the whole way, taking a 16-6 lead at one point and not letting Wilson get too close despite the Phoenix once again threatening a dramatic comeback as Hood looked to go for its second straight sweep.
Similar to previous sets, the Blazers started the third with a commanding 10-2 lead. Unfortunately, also similar to previous sets, Wilson looked to make a comeback for a third time. Despite Hood needing just one more point to put the match away at 24-20, the Phoenix did what they looked like they would do the whole time, rattling off five points in a row to suddenly take the lead and force extra rallies.
Despite starting the extra points off on the back foot, the Blazers continuously managed to even things up but could not manage to get back-to-back kills at any point, as Wilson ultimately took the two points they needed to win the third set 31-29 to force a fourth.
While both squads started the fourth set evenly matched, Hood eventually managed to string together a five-point run to go up 14-9 in another potential match-clinching set. Unlike previous sets though, they made it much easier on their fans, keeping the Phoenix at bay the rest of the way to double their season wins and go perfect on their first day of matches.
Up Next
The Blazers will rest up to be ready for day two of the Shenandoah Invitational where they will face Penn State Altoona and Mary Baldwin Saturday, September 7 at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.
