Elon women’s volleyball fell to Appalachian State University, 1-3, in a hard-fought game where the Phoenix showed a lot of heart.
Elon started off with a strong showing, but the Mountaineers matched their efforts, forcing the Phoenix to dig deep and respond.
Sitting at 11-13 in the first set, the tide appeared to be turning in the Phoenix’s favor when junior Catherine Rucker blocked a powerful strike from App State. A wicked serve from senior captain Shannon O’Laughlin elevated the Phoenix to 15-15.
Freshman Lindsey Murphy celebrates with her teammates after winning a point in Elon's 1-3 loss to Appalachian State University on Sept. 8.
App State wouldn't let Elon build momentum for long. The Mountaineers quickly gained another lead. Elon had to regroup and respond. The moment came after junior Anna Sewell and senior Caroline Berlekamp helped tie things up. It wasn’t long before Sewell slammed the set point into App State’s side of the court, earning the Phoenix a one-set lead.
“I think it’s all about just working as a team,” Sewell said. “You know, someone gets a good pass, we get a really good set, and get a really good throw.”
That mentality showed up in the score sheet. Sewell finished the first set with six kills, and sophomore April Rice and junior Kayla Palmer had four and five assists, respectively.
The Phoenix didn’t stop the teamwork in the second set. They kept their momentum going with a fakeout play between Rice and Berlekamp to help facilitate another lead.
It was a tight set from that point on, with Sewell smacking App State with another spike and Berlekamp delivering a devastating kill to tie the game at 24-24. The second set looked like it would belong to Elon, but a last-minute bump by Berlekamp went long, and App State took the set, 24-26.
The pattern continued in set three, with the Phoenix and Mountaineers locked in a tight battle until App State ran away with an 8-15 lead. It was then Lanier’s turn to drag the Phoenix from the ashes, bringing the score to 15-18 amid a scoring run for Elon.
The comeback was capped off by sophomore Allie Schultz slamming the door shut in App State’s face, literally. Her spike bounced off the opposing blocker’s face to kill the point.
Despite the late comeback, the Mountaineers held off the Phoenix, with another 24-26 set. Head coach Matt Troy spoke on the team’s comeback mentality, which he said they’ve been working on in practice.
“I think for us it shows that we're able to bring the mentality that we need to late in the match,” Troy said. “And late in the set, and be able to fight through that.”
Despite their resiliency, the Phoenix were unable to come away with a needed win in the fourth set, falling 15-25 and to a 2-6 record on the season.
Troy said that this was the best game for the team mentality-wise this year. He thinks they're close to breaking through.
“We're like right there and they can see it and we can feel it,” Troy said. “So once we get over that hump, we'll start to see that moving forward.”
Elon next plays Davidson College at home at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, in Schar Center.