The University of Alabama in Huntsville has extended its streak of unbeaten play through a 3-0 run in the UAH Invitational after closing the tournament with a 3-1 win against Mars Hill Saturday.
The Chargers (6-0) earned a 3-1 win against Spring Hill College to move to 2-0 in the three-day tournament. The early goings against the Lions (5-3) went in favor of the visitors as UAH fell behind in a 9-4 deficit, though it lasted only a short while. UAH pushed back in contention with a 5-0 run to tie the score before both sides traded points until the Chargers began to take control late in Set 1. A kill from Carlee Lowry and Cooper Garrett service ace kickstarted a 6-1 run to give UAH a 23-18 lead before the Chargers closed out the first set with a 25-20 win on a pair of back-to-back kills from Kayla Ward and Mary Grace Bundrant.
Set 2 played out early in the favor of the Chargers as UAH built up an early 10-5 lead. Though Mars Hill scored two points in response, the Chargers continued to extend their lead with a 7-2 run capped by a kill from Calli Tanielu before Tanielu capped the run with a block to give UAH a 17-9 lead. While Mars Hill challenged the UAH lead with four straight points, Ella Moore closed out the Chargers' Set 2 win, 25-20, with a kill.
Mars Hill took an early lead through Set 3 and ultimately opened up the set with a 10-4 advantage against the Chargers. While the Lions ultimately earned the Set 3 win, UAH pushed back in contention to cut their lead down to one with a late 5-1 run to cut the score down to 20-19. The set remained close enough to force extra rallies, though Mars Hill ultimately took the set, 26-24.
The fourth set ran tight as neither side managed to build more than a two-point lead until the end. UAH went on a five-point run to gain the largest lead of the set with Garrett adding a pair of kills, Anna Clare Hutto one kill and Mary George Vandergriff adding a service ace through the run to a 23-17 lead. The Chargers closed the set and match on kills from back-to-back kills from Ward.
IN THE STATS
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Ella Schumacher and Cooper Garrett each notched 11 kills in the win while Carlee Lowry added another 10.
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Cooper also led the Chargers in assists with 29 and total blocks with six.
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Callie Tanielu added five total blocks to an eight-kill night for UAH.
COMING UP
The Chargers go back on the road for the GSC-PBC Crossover tournament in Clinton, Mississippi, with a pair of matches against Augusta and USC Aiken on Friday, September 11, before following up with another match on Saturday against Flagler.
