UMO Goes 1-1 On Final Day Of The Viking Virginia Beach Tournament

Kamber Skeen sets a pass to Cyerra Carter. (Photo by Bob Bradlee)
Kamber Skeen sets a pass to Cyerra Carter. (Photo by Bob Bradlee)

Virginia Beach, Va. – The University of Mount Olive women's volleyball team concluded the Viking Virginia Beach Tournament with a 2-2 record splitting both days matches.


GAME 1 INFORMATION
Score:  Slippery Rock University 3, Mount Olive 0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-23)
Records: Mount Olive 1-2 (0-0); Slippery Rock 3-0 (0-0)
Location: Tidewater Volleyball Center

HOW IT HAPPENED
Play-by-Play

FIRST SET
-The Trojans held the early lead after several service aces, a couple of kills and some Slippery Rock errors put UMO up 7-4
- Slippery Rock took the lead on a few errors by UMO and held the advantage through the remainder of the first set.

SECOND SET
- UMO jumped out to an early lead going up 10-4 just after a called SRU timeout.
- The Trojans held a seven point lead (16-9) after several kills from Britni Johnson and Alyssa Gurnell and a pair of aces from Johnson increased the point spread.
- Errors became Mount Olive's downfall allowing Slippery Rock to come back and take the set 25-21.

THIRD SET
- Slippery Rock carried the momentum from the first two sets into the third set as they got out to a 7-1 lead early on. 
- The Trojans came within three, 14-11, before the Rock increased their lead to eight, 19-11.
- UMO closed the gap to one (19-18) courtesy of a handful of kills by the Trojans and errors from the Rock.
- SRU ultimately held out for the win 25-23 despite UMO's best efforts.

KEY STATS
- Kamber Skeen led the team with 17 assists and eight digs.
- Britni Johnson led with 11 kills while Kaitlin Grote was close behind with nine.
- Kaley Fucci led the Rock with 11 kills on 25 attempts.
- Courtney Oberlander tallied 11 digs against the Trojans.

 

GAME 2 INFORMATION
Score:  Mount Olive 3, Elizabeth City State 0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-15)
Records: Mount Olive 2-2 (0-0); Elizabeth City State 0-4 (0-0)
Location: Tidewater Volleyball Center

HOW IT HAPPENED
Play-by-Play

FIRST SET
- The Trojans held the early lead going up 6-1 as Elizabeth City State called their first timeout.
- Errors plagued the Vikings allowing the Trojans to increase their lead to as many as 13 points in the end.
- UMO recorded a .500 hitting percentage compared to ECSU's .158 in the first set to win 25-12.

SECOND SET
- Mount Olive again got out to an early lead going up 15-4 as the team recorded nine kills and five aces.
- The Trojans grew their lead to 17, up 24-7, before a few errors allowed the Vikings to slightly close the gap (24-11).
- UMO's final point came on a service error by the Vikings to give the Trojans the set 25-11 and a 2-0 advantage in the match.

THIRD SET
- Carrying the momentum through to the third set, the Trojans yet again began the set on fire going up 8-1 right out of the gate.
- The Vikings came within four points of the Trojans (10-6) after a few errors, but UMO held on to the lead increasing it back to eight points (20-12).
- A few errors from the Trojans gave the Vikings a three-point run before Mount Olive ran away with the 25-15 set win and 3-0 match victory.

KEY STATS
- Cyerra Carter led with 12 kills and two blocks.
- Kamber Skeen tallied 32 assists against the Vikings and added four kills in the match.
- The Trojans allowed just 16 kills by the Vikings over three sets while collecting 39 for themselves.

NOTABLES
- Joelle Mafo got here first two wins as a collegiate head coach at the Viking Virginia Beach Tournament.
- All 13 Trojans saw action this weekend including 10 newcomers to the team.

 

UP NEXT
The Trojans return to action next weekend, September 8-9, as they travel to Aiken, S.C. for the USC Aiken Invitational. They face Fayetteville State and hosts, USC Aiken on Saturday, before taking on Anderson (S.C.) and Lander on Sunday.