NASHVILLE – The University of Alabama in Huntsville volleyball program opened its season at the Ray Thrasher Classic with a 3-1 win against Ohio Dominican.
UAH took the early advantage with a Set 1 win powered behind a collective 13 kills from the Chargers as Cooper Garrett and Mary Grace Bundrant paced the team with three kills apiece. Though ODU managed to get the first point of the match, UAH responded with five straight before systematically extending its lead through the set with an even keeled defense led by 2.5 total blocks from Bundrant. A kill from Kayla Ward and a service ace from Emily Redman finished off the set to give the Chargers a 10-point margin of victory in the first exchange.
Set 2 was evenly matched early on until the Chargers broke free from a 6-5 deficit with six straight points to take a 11-6 lead behind kills from Bundrant, Garrett and Lowry while Lowry added a pair of service aces in the run. The Chargers led by as many as eight points on three separate occasions through the second half of the set before ODU managed a 6-1 run before UAH closed out the set with a 25-21 advantage to go up 2-0.
The third set ran closer as ODU took an early advantage with a 10-3 advantage. UAH cut into the lead with four straight points with a combo block from Garrett and Bundrant kicking off the run, cutting the deficit to three. The back-and-forth momentum swing paced the remainder of the set before ODU took Set 3, 25-19.
In the fourth, and ultimately the final, set, UAH took a quick three-point lead before ODU matched the effort to knot the game at three points apiece. While ODU took a 7-5 lead, it was the last lead UAH would allow its opponents as the Chargers took a 20-15 advantage through the remainder of the set to take the match, 3-1.
IN THE STATS
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Carlee Lowry led UAH with 11 kills while Emily Redman notched nine. Ella Schumacher and Cooper Garrett each recorded eight kills while Mary Grace Bundrant added another seven.
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Garrett and Anna Clare Hutto supported the offense with 24 and 19 assists, respectively.
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Lowry and Redman each scored a service ace while Garrett scored the Chargers' fifth in the match.
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Bundrant led UAH in blocks with eight total and two solo. Lowry added four block assists while Ward added four total blocks, one coming as a solo. UAH held a 14-4 block advantage through the four-set match.
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Hutto, Redman and Lowry each hit double digits for digs with 14, 11 and 10, respectively.
