Carrollton, GA - The long preseason paid off early for the University of West Georgia volleyball squad, as the Wolves opened the 2010 season Friday morning with a 3-0 victory over Dominican College at the Saint Leo Lion Classic in Saint Leo, FL. In the afternoon session, the Wolves held off a furious rally from Upper Iowa to take a 3-1 victory.
Game 2 Recap
In the first match of the day with Dominican, the Wolves used a pair of runs to upend Dominican. In the nightcap, it was more of a steady effort that gave West Georgia the 3-1 win.
The first game at first didn't seem to be one where the Wolves just ran over Upper Iowa, but when all was said and done, UWG came away with a 25-14 victory. In the game, the Wolves simply traded every Peacock point for three of their own.
The second game was similar to the first, with the Wolves coming out with a 25-18 victory. Over the first two games, West Georgia hit at a torrid pace, heading into the third game at nearly .500 for the game in hitting percentage.
The Wolves looked to be heading to a sixth-straight individual game win in the third set, vaulting out to a 21-16 advantage. But Upper Iowa came roaring back, outscoring West Georgia 10-3 over the final 14 points to take a 26-24 victory and force a fourth game.
In the fourth set, the Wolves jumped out quickly again, taking a 19-15 lead midway through the game. But the Peacocks pushed back again, pulling to within one at 20-19. At that point, head coach
Gary Lee called a timeout to rally the troops.
The timeout worked, as West Georgia closed out the match with a 25-20 victory to finish the first day of action in the 2010 season at 2-0. Sophomores
Audrey Hipple and
Mary K Krueger paced the Wolves with 10 kills each while
Reagin Boggs led the way with 39 assists.
Ellie Murphy was strong on the defensive side with 22 digs, while Krueger picked up four blocks.
The Wolves take on Saginaw Valley at noon on Saturday, then finish out the tournament against Pittsburg State at 2:30 p.m.
Follow all of the action here.
Game 1 Recap
Freshman outside hitter
Emily Reul and freshman setter
Reagin Boggs each made a big splash in their debut for the Wolves. Reul had nine kills in 20 attempts with no errors for a .450 hitting percentage and Boggs combined her 18 assists with sophomore
Taylor Mense's eight to lead the Wolves to their second-straight opening match win.
Reul kicked things off in the first game by collecting the opening kill of the season on an assist from Cassaday Cook. That started a string of six straight points for the Wolves, opening a 6-0 lead from the opening serve.
In the 6-0 run, Mense picked up a pair of service aces and senior middle blocker
Lisa Ogide had two of her team-high four blocks.
Domincan charged back and pulled to within two points at 10-8 before the Wolves went on another tear, this time a 7-0 run on the back of three service aces from
Jasmine Dotson and a pair of kills from
Mary K Krueger.
The Chargers again fought back, pulling to within three at 21-18, but #Ellie Murphy# slammed the door and served out the remaining points to give the Wolves a 25-18 victory in game one.
In the second game, Domincan reversed the story line at the beginning, coming out blasting to open a 4-1 lead over UWG. The Wolves fought back and caught the Chargers at 16-16. On the ensuing point, Boggs and Krueger combined for a block that gave West Georgia the lead for good.
Junior
Casey NIles was big near the end of the second game, collecting three straight kills to put some distance between the Wolves and the Chargers. Sophomore
Audrey Hipple closed out the game with a kill to give West Georgia a 25-18 victory headed into the final set.
The Wolves made quick work of Dominican in the final game, reeling off 10 straight points to take an early 10-1 lead. West Georgia coasted for the rest of the set, taking a 25-13 victory and the match.
As a team, the Wolves hit .187 in the match and Reul led all hitters with nine kills. HIpple and Niles each pitched in six kills for the cause and Ogide added five. Reul, Ogide and Niles each had over a .400 hitting percentage for the match.
West Georgia takes on Upper Iowa at 5 p.m. in their second match of the day. To watch the game via live stats,
click on this link.