Patriot fall in PBC volleyball title match
PEMBROKE, N.C. - Top-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State University used great defense and made the most of its scoring opportunities as the Pirates defeated second-seeded Francis Marion University in three games (25-16, 25-20, 25-18) in the 2008 Peach Belt Conference Volleyball Tournament championship match on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 16) in Pembroke.
The Pirates (25-6) win their second-ever tournament title, while FMU falls to 3-3 in its six championship match appearances. The Patriots drop to 23-8 on the season and must now await Monday night's announcement of the NCAA Division II National Tournament field to see if they will receive an at-large bid.
For the second straight match, freshman Amanda Mitchell led Francis Marion in kills with nine. The Farragut,Tenn., native was named to the All-Tournament Team.
FMU senior Jessica Lombardi added six kills, seven digs, and two serving aces, and during the match moved into 12th place on the all-time PBC list for kills with 1,267. Senior setter Jenna Kaiser handed out 23 assists and dug up eight balls, while sophomore libero Kelsie Deaton registered a team-high 15 digs.
The match began as a back-and-forth affair as Francis Marion led 13-12 in the first set following a bad AASU set, but that all changed as the Pirates embarked on a 12-0 run that put the first set out of reach. Marina Marinova held serve for the duration of the run as the Pirates got three kills from Tournament MVP Torrie Bevolo and took advantage of FMU errors. A block by FMU's Caitlin Simpson and Ashlyn Underhill stopped the run with the Patriots in a 23-15 hole they could not recover from.
After hitting only .029 in the first set, the Patriots were more efficient to begin the second set and opened up a 10-7 lead following an AASU attack error and a kill by Ashlee Crook. That lead ballooned to 14-9 following a Hallie Legg ace, but AASU once again strung points together, getting four in a row to trim the lead to 14-13. With the score tied at 20, The Pirates ran off the final five points of the set to win, getting three of the five on Gwen Clarke kills.
FMU did not give up in the third set and once again led early 10-9 after an Emily Hill kill. AASU came back to take the lead at 13-12 and then pieced together a 7-2 run that seemed to put the game out of reach at 20-14. However, FMU fought back with kills from Lombardi, Hill and Mitchell to cut the lead to three, but AASU rattled off the final three points, getting a Rindy Vidovich kill to seal the championship.
Bevolo had 13 kills and 15 digs with four blocks to earn MVP honors. AASU as a team hit .266 for the match, out-dug the Patriots 63-53, and had eight team blocks to FMU's five. Vidovich had 12 kills and 13 blocks, while Clarke added 10 kills. Casey Howett led the team with 16 digs, while Hannah Segebart had 43 assists.
FMU hit .109 as a team in the match.
Armstrong Atlantic def. Francis Marion Univ. 25-16,25-20,25-18
Francis Marion Univ. (23-8) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Mitchell, Amanda
9-0-1; Lombardi, Jessica 6-2-1; Hill, Emily 5-0-1; Kaiser, Jenna
4-0-1; Crook, Ashlee 4-0-0; Simpson, Caitlin 2-0-4; Underhill, Ashlyn
1-0-1; Legg, Hallie 0-1-0; Totals 31-3-5.0. (Assists) - Kaiser, Jenna
23. (Dig leaders) - Deaton, Kelsie 15; Kaiser, Jenna 8
Armstrong Atlantic (25-6) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Bevolo, Torrie 13-0-4;
Vidovich, Rindy 12-1-0; Clarke, Gwendolyn 10-0-0; Remlinger, Michele
5-0-3; Richards, Casie 4-0-5; Birkemeier, Amy 1-0-0; Marinova, Marina
0-1-0; Howett, Casey 0-1-0; Totals 45-3-8.0. (Assists) - Segebart,
Hannah 43. (Dig leaders) - Howett, Casey 16; Bevolo, Torrie 15;
Vidovich, Rindy 13; Marinova, Marina 12
Site: Pembroke, N.C. (English E. Jones Ctr)
Date: Nov 16, 2008 Attend: 417 Time: 1:13
Referees: Greg Fletcher, Suzanne Wisenburger
Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship match
