Greensboro College Volleyball Sweeps Day One Of Invitational Tournament

Volleyball Sweeps Day One Of Invitational Tournament
from Wes Gullett, SID at Greensboro College

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Greensboro College volleyball team swept their two matches to open the 2017 Greensboro College Volleyball Invitational Saturday.

The Pride (3-0) recorded a 3-0 victory to open the day over the Knights of Elizabeth City State University before defeating Huntingdon College by an identical score.

In the first set against the Knights (0-6), the two teams played even for the first part of the set before the Pride pulled away with a 10-1 run to take a 16-6 lead. During the 10-point run, freshman Danyale Berry tallied three kills, while Jordan Ware and Shayla Moss had one kill each.

After establishing the lead, Greensboro did not look back as they took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-9 victory.

Greensboro then put together another run in Set 2 to take a 16-8 lead before winning the set by a 25-14 mark. Katie Clark, Emily Horn, Alycia Artis and Evan Sherer combined for seven kills during the opening run, while Tori Belcher and Berry combined for three service aces.

After taking the two-set lead, the Pride then closed out the match with a convincing 25-8 win in Set 3.

Berry finished with a team-high 12 kills in the match, while Clark and Briley Hale-Jarrell combined for 33 assists.

“We started out really slow to open the day,” Head Coach Kathy Bullock said. “However, we were able to get things going and come away with the win.”

Following a two-match break, the Pride returned to action against the Hawks of Huntingdon College.

Huntingdon held a four-point advantage midway through the first set but Greensboro used a 5-1 run to even the score at 13. Berry sparked the run for Greensboro with an electrifying kill to the back row of the Hawks defense before closing out the run with yet another kill.

Following the run to tie the score, Greensboro was able to fend off the Hawks for a 25-21 set victory to take a 1-0 lead.

Set 2 of the match was a seesaw battle as neither team held more than a three-point advantage the whole set.

Horn sparked the Pride late with a kill from the back row before Greensboro closed out the set on a 4-0 run to take a 2-0 lead with a 24-26 victory.

After winning the emotional second set, Greensboro came out strong with a 4-2 lead early in Set 3 before Huntingdon climbed their way back into the lead at 12-10.

The two teams then traded points for the remainder of the set but Breanna Wilton was able to close the match in the end with a service ace.

Horn finished one dig shy of a double double as she tallied 14 kills and 9 digs, while Moss joined the double-digit kill club with 11.

“Getting a win against a good Huntingdon team to close the day for our team was great,” Bullock added. “I saw some great things from our seniors with their leadership as they are really becoming true leaders on the court.

“As a team, we are still growing and will continue to work hard to get better each and every day.”

The Pride women will close out the 2017 Greensboro College Volleyball Invitational with two matches Sunday. Greensboro will take on Lynchburg College at 10 a.m. before squaring off with the Wasps of Emory & Henry at 4 p.m. For more information on Greensboro College volleyball, continue to follow www.greensborocollegesports.com.