LAKE CHARLES—The McNeese women's volleyball team picked up their first Southland Conference victory of the season in a 3-2 (29-27, 20-25, 25-21, 18-25, 18-16) thriller over rival Lamar Thursday night.
"It was great to beat a rival and get our first conference win of the season," said head coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald. "We overcame a little adversity in this match and we made plays at clutch moments. Hopefully we will carry this momentum forward."
The win puts McNeese at 10-8 on the season and 1-2 in league play while snapping a five-match losing skid. McNeese will host Sam Houston State in a 2 p.m. match Saturday. The loss drops Lamar to 1-13 overall and 1-1 in league play.
After leading McNeese with a career high 26 kills at Jackson State Tuesday, junior Amber Fryer once again led the Cowgirls on offense with 16 kills and was one of three players to record double figure kills. Senior Rachel Cagnina and junior Malina Sanchez both ended the match with 12 kills apiece. Setter Kelly Graham dished out a match high 53 assists, her third match of the season with 50 or more assists. Four Cowgirls picked up double figure digs and were led by freshman libero Adison Giambrone who ended the match with 20. Giambrone has now picked up 20 or more digs in three of the last four matches. Kimberlyn Patterson was credited with 19 digs, Kara Rockey had 14 and Sanchez had 12.
It was an 80's theme night and the Cowgirls had a block party, ending the match with 27 total blocks. Sophomore Rebecca Korenek and freshman Shelby Poehls combined for 16 of the Cowgirls' 27 blocks. Korenek picked up seven block assists and one solo while Poehls was in on eight block assists. Cagnina was credited with six blocks (two solos, four assist) and Fryer had five block assists.
The 29-27 first set score indicated how close the match would be. The teams took turns winning sets with McNeese taking a 1-0 match lead with the first set win. Lamar took the second set 25-20 to even the match before the break. A 25-21 third set win by McNeese gave the Cowgirls a 2-1 overall match advantage but Lamar came back to take the fourth set 25-18 to even the match at two sets apiece, sending the match into the deciding fifth set.
In the fifth set, McNeese jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Lamar error and a Fryer kill. McNeese extended its lead to 4-1 on another Fryer kill and a Giambrone service ace. Lamar went on to outscore McNeese 6-2 to take a 7-6 lead and then an 8-6 lead on a kill by Autumn Taylor.
With McNeese trailing 10-8, the Cowgirls went on a run of their own to tie the match at 11 all. Kills by Sanchez and Fryer along with another service ace by Giambrone were critical in the Cowgirls' comeback effort. The set went back and forth and consisted of five more ties until a kill by Graham gave McNeese a 17-16 lead. The Cowgirls came away with after Lamar committed an error on match point.
