Volleyball wins Ball St. Tournament; off to best start since 2009
In his eighth season as head coach, James Finley has the VCU volleyball team off to its best start since 2009.
In his eighth season as head coach, James Finley has the VCU volleyball team off to its best start since 2009.
The Rams registered a clean sweep at the Ball State Invitational, grabbing wins against Illinois State, Ball State and Gardner-Webb.
VCU 3, Illinois State 1, (26-24, 24-26, 25-20, 25-16)
VCU and Illinois State split the first two sets before the Rams took the following two sets as James Finley improved his record to 6-2 in season-openers.
The Rams get a solid output from freshman Romana Kriskova hit .375 while recording 14 kills, 11 digs and four blocks in her college debut. Senior Kristin Boyd added 14 kills, and 14 blocks alongside classmate Jasmine Waters, who had 11 kills on 15 swings.
VCU 3, Ball State 1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21)
The Rams gave up the first set before coming from behind to capture the next three sets taking out the host school.
VCU freshman Martina Samadan hit .688 and had 11 kills and eight blocks in a nearly flawless performance. Waters recorded eight blocks and Boyd had 12 kills for the Rams, who took out a Cardinals team that was 25-8 last season with an RPI of 36.
VCU 3, Gardner-Webb 1 (25-22, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20)
VCU completed the weekend sweep with a win over Gardner-Webb Saturday to take the Ball State Invitational.
Samadan came through once again, recording eight blocks alongside sophomore Janelle Sykes who had seven.
Boyd had a game-high 11 kills, Samadan had seven and Waters added eight.
VCU is 3-0 for the first time since starting off the season 5-0 in 2009.
The Rams travel to the N.C. State Invitational next weekend to take on Kent State, N.C. State and South Florida. CT
From Staff Reports