ELON, N.C. – The Elon volleyball team closed out a five-match home stand today, Oct. 11, but was unable to knock off UNCW, dropping a 3-0 (23-25, 13-25 17-25) match in Alumni Gym.
Megan Gravley led the Phoenix (3-17, 0-7 CAA) with nine kills, falling just short of a double-double with 10 digs. Ally Karle and Kayla Agae both finished with eight kills, while Agae led the maroon and gold with 11 digs. Setter Sydel Curry tallied a new three-set career-high with 34 assists.
“We had a great start to the match, defensively, holding them to a low hitting percentage,” said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. “Unfortunately, we were not able to sustain that throughout the match. Our outside hitters did a good job of tooling the block and hitting out of the back row and our middles were very efficient. We will have to do a better job defending them when we play them again in Wilmington.”
The Seahawks (14-4, 5-1 CAA) saw 11 and 10 kills from Kristen Powell and Nicole Lott, respectively. Lindsay Hartmann finished with a match-high 12 digs followed by 11 digs from Morgan Owney.
How it happened: With Elon trailing by one in the first set, 8-7, the Seahawks managed a 6-2 run to take a five-point advantage, 14-9. The Phoenix used kills by Ebony Scott, Karle, Agae and Catherine Head to close the gap to one, 19-18. UNCW would reach set point, 24-20, before kills by Agae and Gravley put the maroon and gold back within one, 24-23, however the Seahawks claimed the next point to take the set, 25-23.
Elon moved out to a 7-5 lead in the second set after kills by Sydney Busa, Gravley, Karle and Head. With the score tied at eight-all, UNCW was able to go on to score six straight to claim a 14-8 advantage. The Phoenix was unable to cut into the Seahawk lead as UNCW moved on to a 25-13 final.
The Seahawks claimed as much as a four-point lead in the third set before the Phoenix used kills by Agae, Head and Karle and aces by Head and Busa to even the score at 15-all. The set would remain close until UNCW went on an 8-0 run to reach set point, 24-16. A Busa kill would hold the Seahawks for a time but the team would finish out the match with a 25-17 win.
Up next: Elon travels to William & Mary for its next match on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. in Williamsburg, Va.