|
October 17, 2007
JACKSON
--
A night after
a 3-0 loss to cross-town rival MS College in Clinton, Millsaps made the most
out of its return trip home to the Hangar Dome, dropping the visiting Dillard
University Lady Blue Devils out of the NAIA 3-1 (30-24, 20-30, 30-22, 30-21)
on
the
heels
of
three players recording double-digit digs and freshman Heather Keenan's
13
kills.
Four-straight
points from Dillard, capped off by a big kill from Keisha Smoke,
broke a 9-9 tie and gave the visitors a 13-9 edge in Game 1,
forcing
head
coach
Matt
Linebarger
to
use
an
early timeout.
Out of the break, Millsaps (11-18, 4-7 SCAC) put together a 7-1
run to regain the lead at
16-14 and fought off a pair of ties at 19-19 and 22-22 to run
away with eight of the final 10 points for the 30-24 win. 
Dillard opened Game 2 with a 7-1 run of its own to
jump out on top, taking advantage of strong play from libero Danta
Cobb
and
Tyrelle Reed.
A big assisted block effort from freshmen Constance Page and Keenan
brought the Majors to within three at 7-4 before four unanswered
from Dillard gave them an 11-4 lead and forced another
Linebarger timeout.
Freshman Erica Cook did all that she could do to try and keep Millsaps
in the game, allowing the Majors to get within seven at 21-14,
by launching her body in all directions and eating up practically
every Dillard
kill
attempt.
A late rally, however, fell short as the Lady Blue Devils would
score nine of the final 15 points for the 30-20 win to force at
least a fourth game.
Millsaps jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead off a pair of service aces
from freshman Megan Dufresne in Game 3 and never looked back, allowing
the Lady Blue Devils to tie the game at 12-12 before putting together
a pair of 9-4 and 9-6 runs for a 30-22 win.
Senior Ani Babinski served the final nine points for Millsaps
to finish off the game.
In the fourth and final game, the teams traded the first 10 points
prior to a 14-6 run by the Majors who hit every gap and wore down
the shorthanded Lady Devils.
With just six players dressed out for the match, Dillard showed
a lot of fight to pull within 20-15 late in the match, using an
ace from Menesha Pinkey that fell right down the line.
A determined Millsaps squad hungry for a win would not allow them
to get any closer than that, rallying for 10 of the final 16 points
capped off by a kill from Hailey Miranda to Hall to end the match.
Miranda had a solid game for the Majors, tying a season-high with
44 assists in four games on top of six aces while Cook
recorded 27 digs, Dufresne added 12 and Hall had 10.
Keenan led the Majors with 13 kills in addition to nine from
junior Sarah Exley, eight from Hall and five from freshman Victoria
Romano.
The Majors will travel to Florence tomorrow evening for a 7 p.m.
non-conference match versus Wesley College before a four-match
affair in Greencastle, Ind., Oct. 20 and 21. Millsaps went 3-1
at the last SCAC Central/East Divisional. |
