SALISBURY, N.C. — The Catawba College women's volleyball team was faced with a legitimate threat of a fifth set, but ultimately slammed the door on the Shaw Bears in a 3-1 victory on Friday to remain unbeaten at Goodman Arena.
TEAM STATS
- The Catawba Indians (3-2) and Bears (1-2) held identical .152 hitting percentages
- Catawba recorded 48 assists with no setting errors for a .340 efficiency clip, compared to Shaw's 44 dimes and two miscues for a .299 mark
- The visitors boasted an 8-6 edge in service aces, but endured heavy struggles in the accuracy department with 16 errors against the seven off-target serves by Catawba
- The blocking count favored Shaw by a narrow 10-9 split as the Catawba Indians committed the lone block error of the night
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Sofia Beard pummeled 14 kills with 10 digs for her first career double-double
- Martina Foster was lethal in the middle with 10 kills on a .364 hitting percentage
- Haley Moffett picked up 27 assists and Tamie Boudot chipped in 17
- Avery Fleshood got the call at libero and nearly tripled her career-best total in digs with 28 while chalking up three aces: the third, fourth and fifth of her career
- Chloe Ratliff locked up the net in a five-block performance that Beard supplemented with three stops including a solo denial
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- Catawba kicked off the match with a 6-1 start featuring two strikes by Lillie Kate Rogers
- The margin remained stagnant until unforced errors and kills by Foster and Annica Kagle drew the gap out to 17-9 when Shaw opted for its first timeout
- A few rallies later, the Bears won over momentum and enjoyed a 7-1 streak of their own to make it 21-18
- Ratliff and Rogers teamed up for a block to win back the serve, something Catawba never relinquished again in the 25-18 opening set
Second Set
- Unlike the first stanza, the second began with an absence of rhythm as neither team held service for more than two rallies
- A revived Bear offense and Catawba miscues developed a seven-point run for the visitors highlighted by Khori Viltz's pair of aces
- Behind 12-7 at the height of the run, the Catawba Indians made a hard 9-2 charge that gave them a slight lead with 25 approaching quickly
- Shaw tied it at 21-all, but kills by Foster, Beard and Sára Puskás in the clutch sealed the set in 25-23 fashion
Third Set
- In true back-and-forth style, the score remained separated by less than three points again for the first 20 rallies
- However, Shaw fired on all cylinders with two kills and two blocks during a five-point swing as Catawba was forced to use a timeout down 14-11
- Moving closer to the final stretch, the Shaw lead stayed at a buffer of 2-3 points which another Catawba timeout hoped to eradicate
- The strategy worked as the blue and white evened the score at 23-23, but the Bears received a blast from Kya Moore and saw a Catawba error supply the deciding point
Fourth Set
- Catawba opened the set with little control but swiftly overtook the Bears behind a resurgence of Rogers and persistence in service and on defense by Fleshood
- Puskás bumped the Catawba Indian lead to 13-9, just before Shaw dashed ahead at 15-14
- The hosts offered a mirrored rebuttal as Rogers continued to punish the Bear defense with four kills in a short burst, using her fourth to knot the set at 23 apiece
- After the sides traded service errors, Puskás and Beard unleashed the killshots to conclude the two-hour contest with a 3-1 triumph
HEAR FROM COACH FERGUSON
On the win...
"I just think that win is gonna serve us in our longevity and learning how to compete when we take care of a team in the first [set] and then they fight back – [Shaw] did a great job fighting back. I think our competitive maturity is getting better and better. It was all hands on deck tonight, and no better example than Avery [Fleshood] stepping in there and just crushed it."
On Martina Foster's strong performance...
"I think she is a [really] steady source of points that she delivers, but also kind of making sure the train's headed in the same way and we're all on it. So her leadership I think is more than just what she does numerically, too."
On looking ahead to Wingate...
"They're Wingate. They're continuing to deliver, they're running that faster offense, [junior setter] Maya Van Heyst is doing her thing as usual. We're gonna have to be good, but what we do really well is we compete so it's gonna be a fun match."
HEAR FROM AVERY FLESHOOD
On what she credits for her success...
"What do I credit? Oh, Coach [Ferguson] right here. This week she has been pushing us, she has been talking about that connectedness that we have…what we need is a tenacity to come back. She's been throwing that word around, 'tenacity', and tonight proved that the work we put in is paying off."
On what was working tonight...
"I was reading the hitters well, I was making sure to line up with our blockers. Our middles have been putting in a lot of work to be disciplined on their blocking. I was gonna have their back for when they took risks, and I was gonna be disciplined and do my job and have their back."
UP NEXT
Catawba opens its South Atlantic Conference slate on Tuesday, Sept. 16, against Wingate. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at Goodman Arena.
