Volleyball wins thriller in home opener

Tuesday, September 14

Millersville, PA

7:00 PM

Millersville University

3-7,1-0PSAC

Holy Family

2-2,0-0CACC

Holy Family

Millersville

Volleyball wins thriller in home opener

9/14/2021 11:01:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Andrew Pawling, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season, the Marauders did not disappoint, winning a highly competitive match against Holy Family in five sets on Tuesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Things looked ominous in the first set, as the Tigers jumped out to a 13-7 lead. Ville would battle back, winning 12 consecutive points en route to taking a 23-15 lead. The Marauders won the first set 25-17.
Holy Family jumped out to another early lead in set two, working their way to a 12-9 advantage. In similar fashion, Ville would dominate the second half of the set, winning 25-18 and taking a 2-0 set lead.
The third set was the closest set of the match as the Tigers took a 25-23 victory, winning their first set of the match.
Ville looked to close things out in the fourth set after taking a 12-8 lead, but a late rally by Holy Family forced a decisive fifth set.
The Marauders came alive in the fifth set, scoring the first six, and nine of the first 10, points of the set. Ville cruised to a 15-8 win, securing the match victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Caitlyn Callahan (17), Lauren Lucas (15), and Emily Hoffman (11) all had double digit kills for Ville.
Emma Ludwig added 48 assists to her team leading total of 332.
Ludwig also led the team in digs with 18. Hoffman (13) and Rebecca Dalstad (10) also registered double figures for Ville.

NOTES

The win snapped a six-match losing streak for Millersville.
The loss ended a three-match win streak for Holy Family.
Ville improved to 5-1 all time against Holy Family.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN SMITH
On playing in front of the home fans

"The home crowd was great. The men's team up on the track were very much into the match, provided us with extra energy. Our ball control was on tonight, great job by our core passers who also played good defense."

On the 9-1 lead in the fifth set

"I think we had already been in two fifth set matches this year, we simply work hard and didn't want to be denied our first home win. The heat of Pucillo might have also played a roll, we were used to the humidity and were able to push through and stay focused."

On the top offensive performers

"I was happy for all our hitters. Early on both middle hitters were scoring well and had high hitting percentages. Our pin hitters came on in the end had had a great fifth set. It was a great win against a strong team that was picked to win their conference."

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