PEMBROKE – The UNCP volleyball team opened its 2012 home campaign on Wednesday with an impressive shutout victory as the Lady Braves swept Elizabeth City State University,3-0, in three straight sets in the English E. Jones Center. The scores were 25-11, 26-24, and 25-13.
The Lady Braves (2-2) were unstoppable at the net registering 36 kills and 104 attacks for a .202 hitting percentage. UNCP tallied six team blocks, 47 digs and 14 service aces to overcome the Lady Vikings (1-3) for the seventh time in series history.
Junior Jennifer Grunden started off the third and final set serving up seven straight points including three service aces for the Black and Gold. Grunden led the team with five services aces and 13 digs in the match. "The biggest thing that helped us out, we were able to get a really big lead after Jen served seven points. She had about four aces in that, her serving run right there. We were able to run away with the game and we never looked back," said UNCP head coach Angie Byrd following the game Wednesday. Freshman Heather Ciscel contributed three service aces of her own in the match.
On offense UNCP was led by junior Sawyer Gray and freshman Ashtin Truesdale. Gray had a team-high 13 kills, while Truesdale added another nine kills totaling a .692 hitting percentage for the Lady Braves.
"Ashtin did really good job hitting as well as setting. We also had Sawyer Gray on the outside who led the team overall with 13 kills, playing smart, hitting shots, and hitting corners" said Byrd.
Also adding the explosive offense was senior Ashlyn Rebok who dished out 26 assists which was more than the Lady Vikings recorded collectively.
The Lady Braves' victory was rounded out by a strong defensive performance by Shay Peterson and Marissa Baker. Peterson assisted on five blocks while Baker scooped up 10 digs for UNCP.
Morgan Stallings led the Lady Vikings in digs and kills with 18 and nine, respectively, while Danielle Kiser totaled 16 assists.
UNCP will head to the Mount Olive Invitational on Friday where it will face off with Millersville University (0-3) at 6 p.m. and Mount Olive College (1-3) on Friday at 8 p.m. All games will be played at the Kornegay Arena in Mount Olive.
To watch the full game click HERE.
