ATHENS, Ga.-- McNeese volleyball ended the Georgia Bulldog Invitational on Saturday with a 1-1 record, falling 3-1 (26-24, 17-25, 20-25, 20-25) to Georgia before ending tournament play with a 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 15-6) win over Bethune-Cookman.
McNeese ended the day by snapping a four-match losing streak with the win over Bethune-Cookman, who was picked to win the MEAC. The five-set match is the fourth match in the last seven to go five sets for the Cowgirls.
Freshman
Katelyn Elliott shined on offense again, knocking down a career high 24 kills to lead McNeese in that category.
Jenny D'Alessandro and
Rae Myers both picked up four kills apiece and
Keegan Nelms ended the match with 13 kills.
Adison Giambrone and Nelms both led McNeese with 20 kills apiece. Elliott was named to the all-tournament team.
"It's great to finish pre-conference on a win," said head coach
Ashleigh Fitzgerald. "We played pretty tough against Georgia and then had less than an hour before we played a physical, terminal Bethune-Cookman squad. We were pretty fatigued but had great contributions from a lot of players."
McNeese opened the match with a first set 21-15 loss before bouncing back to win the next two sets to take a 2-1 lead. Bethune-Cookman evened the match with a fourth set 25-21 win to even the match to two sets apiece. The Cowgirls are no stranger to five set matches and haven't fared well when the match goes to five sets. This match was different as McNeese pulled out the win with a 15-6 fifth set victory.
"While Katelyn deservingly made the all-tournament team,
Hailee Showers really contributed defensively for us today and
Jenny D'Alessandro had a breakout weekend," said Fitzgerald.
Elliott started the day by recording double figure kills against the Bulldogs to lead McNeese with 16. Elliott ended the match with a .308 hitting percent. Junior Myers was the only other Cowgirl to record double figure kills with 11. Junior
Adison Giambrone was solid on defense as she picked up a career high 24 digs. Nelms had 10 digs and
Alexandra Aguilera dished out 37 assists. As a team, McNeese combined for 10 blocks and was led by D'Alessandro's five.
McNeese will finally get to play in front of its home crowd this season when the Cowgirls host Northwestern State at 7 p.m. Thursday to open Southland Conference play. The Cowgirls will remain home to host Central Arkansas at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
