Cori Dayton paced the 49ers with 19 kills. |
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49ers Drop Long Island, 3-1, On The Road
Oct. 8, 2007
Brooklyn, NY - The Charlotte 49ers ended Long Island's six-match winning streak with a 3-1 (30-27, 30-22, 21-30, 30-24) road win. The 49ers took the first two games and built an advantage that proved to be too much for Long Island to overcome, as the 49ers improved to 11-8 on the season. Cori Dayton and Alma Arroyo tallied 19 and 18 kills, respectively, to lead the 49ers.
"I'm very proud of this team," said Charlotte head coach Chris Redding. "We finished a tough road weekend by playing our best team volleyball of the year. We've been working hard in the gym and it's great to see it pay off in game competition."
Charlotte came out strong from the start, but Long Island held tough during the first game. Long Island led by no more than two points in the early going, but the 49ers took the lead for good after breaking an 11-11 tie. The Blackbirds kept fighting back, but could not over take Charlotte, which went on to take a 30-27 win.
Long Island came out flat again in the second stanza as the 49ers built a 13-8 lead on the strength of a 6-0 run that featured four attack errors by the Blackbirds. Trailing 14-9, Long Island appeared to have a comeback in the works when Martina Wagner rattled off a pair of quick aces, but Charlotte broke serve and scored eight of the next 11 points to take a commanding lead. The 49ers took the second game by a score of 30-22.
Long Island came out strong in the third game, taking an early 9-5 lead. Charlotte refused to yield, but the Blackbirds were able to stave off any 49er uprising en route to a 30-21 win. In the fourth frame, Charlotte turned the tables and took a 10-6 lead. Then with the Blackbirds trailing 12-8, the 49ers went on a 10-2 run to put the game and match out of reach.
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The Blackbirds hit just .196, while the 49ers hit .304. Long Island held a narrow edge in kills, 58-57. Serving proved to be a headache for the Blackbirds, as they committed a season-high 18 service errors, but managed nine aces.
"We hope to take this momentum into a tough road weekend," said Redding.
Charlotte returns to Atlantic 10 play when they travel to Xavier and Dayton this weekend, October 12-13.
