The Big South-leading Bulldogs opened conference play with a big win last night, defeated Gardner-Webb in four sets at the Justice Center. It wasn’t always pretty for the Bulldogs (12-5, 1-0), but the team managed to put together a decisive win behind the senior leadership of Lauren Ficker and Raquel Miotto. Gardner-Webb (5-10, 0-1) played with tenacious effort in the final two sets, and had four players with double-digit digs and three with double-digit kills.
Asheville was in control for most of the first set behind 5 kills from Ficker and 6 digs from Miotto, and came away with a 25-20 win. The second set was a back-and-forth battle, but the Bulldogs broke away with a late run to take the set, 25-22. Not ready to give in, Gardner-Webb came out swinging in the third set, taking the lead on an early 7-0 run and never looking back on its way to a 25-18 victory. The intensity level was high in the fourth set, and an 8-1 surge from the Bulldogs was quickly erased. Finally, with the score knotted at 24, senior Brooke Holliday and sophomore Cindi Miller came up with back-to-back kills to put Gardner-Webb away.
Ficker finished the match with 13 kills and 10 digs for her second double-double of the season. Miller was also in double-figures for the Bulldogs with 11 kills. In addition to her 31 assists, junior setter Rachel Guinane contributed 7 kills with a .545 hitting percentage. Miotto added 23 digs to her Big South-leading total. Also instrumental in the victory was freshman Holly Shelton, whose 8 blocks were the highest total posted by a Bulldog this season. Laura Wilcox was Gardner-Webb’s top scorer with 13 kills, and Regina Feagin led the Runnin’ Bulldogs with 14 digs. As a team, Asheville held a decisive advantage in attack percentage, hitting .250 to Gardner-Webb’s .140.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Friday night when they travel to Radford. The Highlanders (9-6, 0-0) are currently second in the Big South, and split a pair of matches against UNC Asheville last season.
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