PHOTO GALLERYHUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville volleyball team continued its strong play at the outset of the 2015 campaign, as the Chargers topped William Jewell 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18) and Southern Arkansas 3-1 (19-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-22) on the second day of the Hilton Garden Inn South UAH Classic. The Blue & White improve to 3-0 in the early season.
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UAH 3, William Jewell 1 Â
The Chargers took their first match of the day by a 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18) score in the first-ever meeting with the visiting Cardinals. A pair of players recorded double-doubles in the contest for UAH as sophomore
Kirsten Giles logged a team-high 27 assists to go along with 12 digs, while freshman
Anna LeDuc matched the defensive performance of Giles while also adding a team-best 13 kills.
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Haley Hop scooped out 16 balls to pace the team in digs in the triumph.
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After finding itself in a quick 5-0 hole in the first set, the Chargers would string together six straight points as Hop held serve, and that performance was matched later in the frame as a 6-0 run with
Haley Snyder serving turned an 11-9 deficit into a 14-11 lead – an advantage that UAH would not relinquish the rest of the way to go in front 1-0 in the match.
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A .306 hitting percentage in the second set keyed a 25-21 run to place UAH in front 2-0, but the team would register a negative swinging mark in the third frame to drop it by a 25-19 score.
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The Chargers then closed out the match with their best hitting performance of the contest, tallying a .308 mark on the strength of 11 kills and just three errors with LeDuc recording four of her successful attacks in the frame.
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UAH 3, Southern Arkansas 1Â
UAH started off slowly in the second match of the day, falling in the initial set 25-19. The Chargers battled through some attacking woes as the squad totaled a .135 hitting percentage in the stanza.
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LeDuc starred in the first set for the Chargers with four kills on a .500 hitting percentage, while fellow freshman
Holly Posey led the defense with five scoops.
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The Chargers fought back to take the second stanza, posting a team .333 hitting percentage paced again by LeDuc with five kills and an .833 swing rate to go along with a pair of digs. UAH benefitted from an 8-1 run in the middle of the set en route to the convincing, 12-point win.
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The third frame proved to be a back-and-forth affair with UAH capturing the victory by a score of 25-23.
Kirsten Giles excelled in the third set, setting up her fellow Chargers with 12 successful swings.
Anna Claire Johnson paced the attack with five kills.
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UAH clinched its third win of the new season following a 25-22 win in the fourth set, with the Chargers completing the victory on a 3-1 run against the Muleriders. LeDuc finished as the star of the contest, posting 15 kills on a .306 hitting percentage while just missing out on a double-double-with nine digs. Giles finished the night with a team-high 41 assists, while Hop led the defense with 18 digs.
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The Blue & White look ahead to the final day of the Hilton Garden Inn South UAH Classic with games slated against Ouachita Baptist at 1 p.m. and Trevecca Nazarene at 5 p.m.
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