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Bucknell Volleyball Wins First Patriot League Match, 3-0 Over Holy Cross
Sept. 26, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell volleyball claimed its first Patriot League win of the season, defeating Holy Cross 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-16) on Saturday night in Davis Gym. Heidi Kamp (Eugene, Ore./Henry D. Sheldon) led the Bison (5-9, 1-1) with 11 kills and five blocks, while Kaitlin Segal (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) posted a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs. Bucknell stormed out of the gates in a hurry, taking a large lead early in the action. The Bison claimed their largest lead of the night following back-to-back kills by Kyleigh McAhren (Napa, Calif./Justin-Siena) that put the score at 14-2. Although Holy Cross (1-14, 0-2) started to compose itself, the Bison advantage was simply too much to recover from. Six Bison combined for 13 kills, nearly doubling the Crusaders' kill total. Bucknell also out-hit Holy Cross, .324 to -.031 in the first set. The way it started the second set, Holy Cross gave the impression that it was merely a slow starter. The visiting team refused to allow Bucknell to take the same early lead it had in the first set and had its best look at a lead of its own at 11-10. The Crusaders' attacks came in waves, however, and their inability to string together several points, made a full comeback difficult. After Holy Cross got to within one point of its opponent, Bucknell ran off three consecutive kills from Ragin Jackson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson), Kamp and Segal. That contributed to a 6-1 Bison run and extended the Orange and Blue advantage to 17-11. Holy Cross made a final push late in the set, coming within a few points of Bucknell. A Bison service error made the score 21-19, but the Crusaders gave it right back by serving an error of their own on the very next point. Unwilling to go away easily and given the second chance, Bucknell closed out the second in a hurry. Segal sandwiched a pair of aces around a kill by Jackie Landes (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Wildwood School) to bring her team within one set of its first league victory. Segal finished the match with four aces to lead both teams and set a season-high. The third set began much like the second with Holy Cross staying in contention. With the score staying close through the first half of action, momentum did not sway in the Bison's favor until 16-14. A pair of Bucknell attack errors had allowed Holy Cross within two points, but the Bison rebounded in a hurry. Bucknell won nine of the last 11 points, including five straight kills from Segal and Jackson for the final five points, to shut down the Crusaders for good. Allison Gittings (Dayton, Md./Glenelg) had a hand in most of the team's 39 kills on the night. The senior co-captain led all players with 31 assists. On the defensive front, Jackson added four blocks to Kamp's match-high five, and Emily Sawanobori (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) had a match-high 18 digs. Head coach Cindy Opalski was happy with the convincing victory in the early days of Patriot League play as well as the all-around team effort in securing that win. "Our journey has been a bit of a transition. We've been bettering ourselves each day. Our hitters have done an excellent job of getting kills at the net," said Opalski. "We had great contribution from other people in addition to Heidi Kamp. We've been working on consistency, and the freshmen making contributions is critical to our future success." Megan Lynch was the Crusaders' top attacker with 14 kills and one of only two players to finish with a positive attack percentage. Chelsey O'Donnell threw in 18 assists, while libero Angela Chisholm led with 14 digs. Bucknell will be back on the court on Friday, Oct. 2 when it takes on American at 7 p.m. in Washington, D.C. The Bison will then continue on their first league road trip of the year by facing Navy at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3 in Annapolis, Md.
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