Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Furman
Wildcat volleyball falls in five sets to Furman
9/13/2014 3:18:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
LARAMIE, Wyoming - The Weber State volleyball team dropped another five-set match to Furman Friday night at the UniWyo Wyoming Invitational. The 'Cats held a 2-1 lead but The Paladins rallied for the 21-25, 25-12, 21-25, 25-20, 15-10.
The Wildcats were once again lead by senior outside hitter Audrey Biggs, who came into the match 24th in the nation with 4.41 kills per set. Biggs finished the match with 18 kills while hitting .196. Freshman outside hitter Amanda Varley had an impressive match with 12 kills.
Redshirt freshman setter Taylor Christensen had 45 assists and senior libero McKay Tarbox had a match-high 14 digs.
The Wildcats hit a total of 56 kills to the 54 of the Paladins and also had the better hitting percentage .206. But they were unable to overcome the small errors that have plagued them so far this season.
“When we won sets tonight, we looked like a really good team,” WSU head coach Tom Peterson said. “But when we lost the sets, we didn't look good. We are getting better but we still find ourselves making those small mistakes in key situations.”
After a back and forth first set, the Wildcats gained an advantage when the Paladins made attacking errors and Varley blasted one past the defense. Biggs finished off the set with three kills to ensure her team the early advantage.
The energy from the first set seemed to have left the building for the Wildcats in the second set. After tying the set at 7-7, the Paladins went on to score 13 of the next 18 points to pull away.
The third set was hard fought until the Wildcats were able to distance themselves behind two kills from Christensen. But it was junior outside hitter Samantha Staker who helped the Wildcats win the third set, with two kills at the end of the set.
The Wildcats seemed poised to close the match out in four sets, but with the set tied at 16-16. The Paladins were benefited by errors from the Wildcats and opportune hitting by their outside hitters.
In the fifth set, the Wildcats weren't able to overcome a slow start and came up short for the third time this season in five-set matches.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 2-6 overall. WSU will have two matches tomorrow as they are scheduled to face Wyoming at 12 p.m. and Gonzaga at 5 p.m.
