Lynae Mulder led Charlotte with 17 digs in loss at Davidson. |
|
|
Road Remains Unkind in 49ers Loss at Davidson
Sept. 12, 2006
Davidson, N.C. - Sophomore middle blocker Kittery Neale posted a season-high 20 kills to lift the Davidson Wildcats to a 3-1 (30-23, 30-20, 28-30, 30-23) win over cross-town rival Charlotte on Tuesday night at Belk Arena. Charlotte drops to 7-5, including a 1-5 road record this season.
Neale's big night started in game one, when she posted six kills in just ten attempts. The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead, winning the first three points behind a couple of Williamson aces, and stretched the lead to 22-11. The Niners put together a couple 3-0 runs late in the game to tighten the score, but Williamson punched home the game point from Dykstra to give the Wildcats a 30-23 opening game victory.
The second game was tighter, with the score evened nine times before the 'Cats started to pull away. With things knotted at 11, Davidson went on a 4-0 run bedhind Dykstra's strong serving, and then won four straight points later in the game to put ahead a comfortable 24-18. Pierucci posted five kills, as the 'Cats outhit Charlotte .286 to -.086 to take an easy 30-20 win and control of the match.
Behind six kills from Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Cori Dayton, Charlotte took game three by a narrow 30-28 to stay alive. Charlotte took an early 12-8 lead, but after Davidson won three straight points, the lead was tied five times. The 'Cats took a late 28-26 lead, but surrendered the next two points to knot the score. The Niners, who outhit the Wildcats .245 to .125 in the back-and-forth game, won the next point to pull ahead before Dayton put away the game-winner to force game four.
Given another opportunity to take the match, Davidson did not disappoint in game four. Neale posted seven kills, hitting .500 in her most dominant game of the night, as the Wildcats dominated the Niners .300 to .000 in hitting percentage. With the score knotted at 16, Davidson began to pull away, as Cron served five straight points -including two kills from Neale and one from Williamson, to give the 'Cats a 21-17 lead they would never relinquish. With Davidson leading 27-23, Charlotte hitters committed three straight errors to deliver the game, by a score of 30-23, and the match.
|
|
 |
Charlotte was led by senior Lynae Mulder and her 17 kills. Claire Crumpton, seeing her first action of 2006 following injury, contributed 12 kills in the middle. Libero Carly Romberg had the match-high with 27 digs. Dayton posted another double-double for the Niners, with 10 kills and 12 digs. Setter Eden Ramos was consistent for Charlotte, with 47 assists.
Neale tallied 20 kills in just 32 swings, hitting a team-leading .531, to pace the Davidson (7-5) attack. Junior outside hitter Katie Pierucci added 14 kills, and senior outside hitter Liz Williamson had 12 kills and four service aces for the Wildcats. SoCon player of the week, senior setter Jenna Dykstra collected 45 assists, as four Wildcat players posted double-digits digs in a balanced defensive effort.
Charlotte heads back on the road this weekend, with a trio of games at Samford in the Barber's Classic. Charlotte will play host Samford on Friday night at 7 p.m.
(Courtesy of Davidson Media Relations)
