GRAMBLING— McNeese first year head volleyball coach
Tayler Gray picked up her first career win as a head coach Friday with a straight set 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 26-24) win over Grambling on the second day of its North Louisiana swing.
McNeese (1-7) will complete the swing with a 1 p.m. match at Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
"I'm happy we earned this win," Gray said. "We've had a demanding start, we've learned from each set, and we are growing. Our goal is to rinse and repeat."
The Cowgirls produced their best hitting percent this season (.301) off 44 kills, a season low seven hitting errors on 123 attempts and a season high 13 blocks.
Gabbie Maldonado and
Kayla Wilson led McNeese with 13 kills apiece while
Megan Grose led with 20 assists.
Sophia Tocmo led a trio of Cowgirls with 10 or mor digs with 20 on the nigh while
Carli Banks and
Ava Henry both picked up four blocks each.
Set 1
• The set went back and forth for the first 12 points
• McNeese then outscored Grambling 7-2 to take a 13-8 lead
• The Cowgirls continued to build its lead ending the set with three straight kills by
Kayla Wilson for the 25-16 win.
• Wilson ended the set with seven kills on 10 attempts for a .700 hitting percent
Set 2:
• McNeese opened the set by taking a 5-1 lead and extended the lead to 11-5
• Grambling went on a 4-0 run and pulled to within two points (13-11) before McNeese called a timeout
• McNeese put together a 4-0 run of its own to extend its lead to 22-16 before picking up the second set win 25-20 for an overall 2-0 match lead.
• McNeese hit .263 in the set on 12 kills and only two errors.
Set 3:
• Grambling jumped out to and 8-5 lead
• Kills by
Gabbie Maldonado and
Carli Banks pulled McNeese to within two points (11-9)
• Grambling held a 15-10 lead at the media timeout
• McNeese went on a 5-1 run to cut the lead to four points (21-17) late in the set
• McNeese came back to tie the set at 22 all following a 5-0 run that started with a block assist by
Ava Henry and
Carli Banks
• McNeese took its first lead of the set 24-23 on an ace by
Corynne Hausler
• Grambling scored the next point to even the set at 24 before the Cowgirls took advantage of two Grambling errors to pick up the win to complete the sweep.
Up Next:
• McNeese will finish its North Louisiana swing with a 1 p.m. match at Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
• McNeese will host Grambling next Thursday, Sept. 17 in its home opener and the opening match of the Cowgirl Classic
McNeese Notes
• The win is the first of the season for McNeese and the first career win for first year head coach
Tayler Gray
• The sweep is the first sweep for McNeese since it swept Northwestern State on Nov. 10 of last season
• McNeese recorded its best hitting percent of the season (.301), committing only seven hitting errors
•
Gabbie Maldonado and
Kayla Wilson led McNeese with 13 kills apiece
• The kills for Maldona are her season high
•
Megan Grose and
Corynne Hausler both recorded double figure assists. Grose dished out a season high 20 and Hausler had 15
• Three players picked up at least 10 digs…
Sophia Tocmo (20), Gabby Santiago (12), and
Carli Banks (11)
• The 12 digs by Santiago are her season high
• Banks and
Ava Henry led McNeese with four blocks apiece
• The four blocks for Banks ties her career high
• The four blocks for Henry are her season high
