DULUTH, Minn. (September 9, 2011) - The No. 18
Tars suffered their first loss of the season as they fell 3-1
(25-20, 19-25, 26-28, 24-26) to the No. 7 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
in Friday's night cap of the UMD Classic.
Recording season-highs were Megan Hodges with 22 kills and four
blocks, while Kiana Parks tallied 44 assists. Hodges also had five
digs and Parks added nine digs, two kills, and a service ace.
In the first four-set match of the season, the Tars won game one
25-20, committing no errors and hitting .542. The 18th
ranked Tars hit their second set slump, but were unable to recover
and fell 25-19. Fatigue and frustrations set in as Rollins was
unable to complete their rallies in the third and fourth sets.
Game three was a close one for the Tars as the set featured 17
ties and six lead changes. Rollins was able to take a lead on a
kill by Kelly Merideth and extended it to four. As the Tars led
17-13, Minnesota Duluth rallied and tied the score at 18-all. The
lead swapped multiple times before the final tie came at 26-all on
a Collyn Welsch kill. A kill by Bulldog's Kate Lange and a Rollins
attack error settled the score with Minnesota Duluth up 2
games-to-1.
The fourth game was also in close range for the Tars and
finished much like the previous game did. Rollins was able to come
from behind as they scored four straight points to take a two point
lead over the Bulldogs, 21-19. Two more ties would come about to
give the Tars a chance to take the match to five, but were unable
to pull through, dropping the game 26-24.
With the win, Rollins drops to 5-1, while Minnesota Duluth
remains unscathed with a 6-0 record. The Tars will face Upper Iowa
Saturday morning at 10. Fans can follow all the live action on the
Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com.
