Box Score DURHAM, N.C. – Ashley Muench (Hurdle Mills, N.C./Orange) tied a career-best 24 kills as the Spartans defeated the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Saturday evening inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on Duke University's campus. The Spartans improve to 1-2 on the season, while EKU now falls to 0-3.
Muench's 24 kills tied her performance against Mercer last Oct. 28. Against the Colonels, she added 14 digs, second behind Christina Gregory's (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) 17. Muench hit for a .417 percentage on 48 attacks. Jasmine Jones (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point) also had a career-night, racking up 11 block assists, the most in a match in her career. Alexis Mourier (Elkview, W.Va./George Washington) added 11 kills while hitting at a .478 clip. As a team, the Spartans earned 59 kills, hitting at .253. Sara Hohman (Zionsville, Ind./Cathedral) finished with a team-best 26 assists, while Allison Penner (Aurora, Neb./Aurora) added 20 off the bench. Penner also earned 10 digs for her first double-double of the season.
UNCG scored four straight points to open up an early 6-2 lead in the first set. After weathering a 4-1 run by the Colonels, the Spartans put together a 6-2 run, aided by kills from Muench and Mourier to give UNCG a 19-15 lead. The Spartans closed out the first set, outscoring EKU 5-2 over the final seven points, with Muench closing the match out with back-to-back kills giving UNCG the first set at 25-19.
In the second set, the Colonels and the Spartans were back and forth until UNCG used a 5-1 run to gain a 14-11 advantage. Mourier and Brezwyn each added kills while Muench added a service ace in the run. EKU responded with a five-point run of their own, aided by three Celina Sanks kills to take an 18-16. UNCG scored three-straight points to tie the set up at 23 on back-to-back kills from Mourier and Jasmine Jones (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point). After another Jones kill tied it up at 24, back-to-back attack errors sunk the Spartans in set two as they fell 26-24.
The Spartans got a little breathing room about halfway through the third set. Four straight points, aided by a kill from Muench and a Penner service ace, put UNCG up 15-11. Jessica Brezwyn (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South) capped off the 8-1 run with her third kill of the match and put the Spartans up 19-12. EKU battled back, but the Spartans closed the set, scoring four of the last five points. Kills from Robeck, Muench and Penner, along with a service ace from Anna Romaniszyn (Port Orange, Fla./Spruce Creek) closed out the third set, giving UNCG the 2-1 lead.
The Colonels broke open the fourth set at around the midway point, scoring eight of nine points to take a 16-10 lead. UNCG hung with, cutting the lead to 22-20, prompting an EKU timeout. After back-to-back blocks form Penner and Jones cut the lead to 23-22, EKU's Nikki Drost scored two kills to give the Colonels the 25-23 victory, forcing the fifth set.
UNCG made short work of the Colonels in the fifth set. After jumping out to an 5-3 lead, Muench served up the set's next ten points to give the Spartans the win. Muench added three kills and a service ace to help put the match away.
The Blue and Gold are back in action on Friday, Sept. 2nd as they head to Triad-foe High Point for a 5:00 p.m. date with the Panthers.
-UNCG-
