COLUMBIA, Ky. – In front of an electrifying hometown crowd, the Lindsey Wilson volleyball team withstood a late rally by the visiting Georgetown Tigers (Ky.) to complete a sweep and win the Mid-South Conference opener for the fourth year in a row.
An endurance test in the third test became the highlight of the night. After 42 minutes, 19 tie scores, and 10 lead changes, the Blue Raiders finally secured the last point of the match to improve to 13-3 overall.
Ola Wyrzykowska hit 0.316 with 14 kills and 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Freshman
Rylee Springer recorded a career-high 21 assists – all in the third set – and two service aces, and
Momo Hampton ended the night with 13 digs.
As a team, Lindsey Wilson served up 18 aces, the most in a single match since October 11, 2009.
Four of those aces came right out of the gate from
Luiza Gonçalves to give the Blue Raiders a 4-0 lead in the first set. A pair of kills by
Marija Raonic followed and a solo block by Fernandez Garcia increased the score to 7-1. Georgetown cut its deficit down to 11-9 but Gonçalves came back with a kill and another ace to put momentum back on her team's side. The Tigers, again, worked their way back to a one-point margin, only to fall behind a 7-1 run by the Blue Raiders, which was capped by four consecutive aces from Fernandez Garcia. A joint block with
Ana Clara Beltran Sacca and Wyrzykowska sealed the set, 25-17.
Georgetown scored the first point of the second frame, then two attack errors and kills by
Sofija Pjevic, Fernandez Garcia, and Raonic shifted the balance quickly to Lindsey Wilson. A sluggish -0.077 hitting mark by the visitors proved too much to overcome as the Blue Raiders built and maintained a comfortable 10-point cushion.
The third set was a marathon in its own. Wyrzykowska hit 0.360 with 11 kills, alone, and Hampton corralled 11 digs. Freshman
Ava Blomenberg added four kills and four digs, while Springer's 21 assists went with six digs. Another first-year,
Duda Becho jumped up for three blocks.
Lindsey Wilson pushed out to a 3-0 lead in the frame, led by an ace from Springer. The Tigers roared back with a six-point swing, only for the hosts to counter with a 5-0 run to make the score 8-6. Georgetown crept back in front by a slim margin before another timely run by the Blue Raiders, consisting of three kills from Wyrzykowska, gave the home side a 20-16 edge. Lindsey Wilson earned its first chance at match-point up 24-19. However, Georgetown did not go away, tying the set at 24-24. From there, the seesaw teetered between match-point and set-point. In all, the Tigers had three set-point chances, while the Blue Raiders had 14 match-point opportunities. At last, back-to-back blocks with Becho and Wyrzykowska closed the deal at 38-36.
Lindsey Wilson travels to Pulaski, Tennessee on Saturday for a non-conference tri-match with Faulkner (Ala.) and Tennessee Southern. First serve is slated for 3 p.m. CT.
