Volleyball captures Deacon Tournament
See the full article here: http://wp.me/p6M9R2-bPx (Photo by Erin Edgerton)
Erika Robinson
Contributing Writer
Women’s volleyball traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Sept. 18 and 19 to play in the Deacon Classic hosted by Wake Forest University. The Rams won the tournament with wins against Hofstra University (3-0) and Wake Forest (3-1), and a loss to the University of Georgia (3-1).
With a young team on the road, and big outside hitters senior Kalah Jones and sophomore Jessica Young sidelined due to injury, the Rams looked for others to step in to fill the void.
On Friday, the Rams took the court against Hofstra and continued their success from the previous game against Hampton days before. Redshirt freshman setter Indigo Thompson set the tone for VCU with 29 assists. Thompson’s main targets were freshman outside hitters Sahbria McLetchie and Julia Adler, who both had nine kills each for the day, (25-16), (25-23) and (25-15). Sophomore middle blocker Jane Fedderson added seven kills and three blocks.
Saturday, the Rams started the day against SEC member, Georgia. After starting out strong and winning the first set (25-22), Georgia overcame VCU with a major impact from their outside hitter, Maddie Lobenstein, who had 17 kills. Georgia rallied to take the next three sets, (25-21), (25-20) and (25-18). McLetchie had 12 kills and Fedderson added 11 kills. Sophomore libero Rebekah Strange collected 10 digs.
After suffering a loss in the first match of the day, the Rams re-strategized for their final match of the tournament against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons took the first set in a (25-20) win. VCU regrouped and surged on to win the next three sets, (25-23), (25-13) and (25-21).
Again, Thompson connected several times throughout the match with her favorite target of the weekend, McLetchie. McLetchie tallied a game-high 20 kills in the win, which was one point shy of her career high. She also added six digs and one block while Adler added 12 kills. Thompson registered a game-high 44 assists and nine digs.
McLetchie’s hot hitting and solid defense helped the Rams overcome their first set loss and win the match. Redshirt freshman libero Tori Pearce commanded the backcourt with 10 digs. She was accompanied by senior defensive specialist Samantha Blaze, who added four digs.
McLetchie and Thompson were both named to the All-Tournament Team and McLetchie was also crowned the A-10 Rookie of the Week.
With Alder, Fedderson, McLetchie and Thompson finding their way to a tournament win and making an imprint on the team this past weekend, the team is finding success in its younger role-players. This cannot come at a better time as the Rams begin conference play on the road this weekend against Rhode Island on Sept. 25 and Fordham on Sept. 27.
