SAVANNAH, Ga. (September 14, 2012) - The
Rollins Tars volleyball team began to look like the team they were
one year ago as they notched wins against North Alabama and handed
host-Armstrong Atlantic their first loss of the season. Rollins
now improves to 5-4 as two matches remain on the Tars' slate at the
2012 AASU South/Southeast Region Challenge Presented by Optim
Health.
In the first match-up of the day, the Tars took on North Alabama
(1-5) and rolled past the Lions in three. The last time Rollins
faced UNA was last season in the first round of the 2011 NCAA DII
South Regional; the Tars won in four.
Of the 14 total ties in the contest, 12 came in the first set as
Rollins took a 28-26 win. Rollins registered 13 kills in the set.
After a setting error by the Tars at the 13-12 mark brought the
Lions within one, Rollins went on a 4-1 run to take a 17-13 lead.
North Alabama closed the gap, followed by multiple ties with the
last coming by the Lions at 26-all. A kill by Jill
Lau gave the Tars a one-point advantage, 26-25, while a service
ace by Kiana
Parks secured the win.
Rollins was able to make quick work of North Alabama in the next
two sets with a 25-15 win in the second and a 25-14 victory in the
third set.
Camille
Indest was the only Tar to reach double-figure kills with 10
and led the team defensively with six blocks. Of those six, four
came in the second set, all consecutively, that allowed the Tars to
take a 6-0 lead. Collyn
Welsch and Lau each added eight kills to the Tars offense.
In the Tars' nightcap, Rollins escaped with a 3-2 (25-20, 19-25,
25-18, 22-25, 15-10) victory over host-Armstrong Atlantic, handing
the Pirates their first loss of the season and first home loss
since 2010.
In the opening set against the Pirates, Rollins was able to grab
a strong lead after AASU tied the score at 9-all on a service ace.
A kill by Jill
Lau gave the Tars a one-point lead and was the beginning of a
4-0 run. Armstrong Atlantic put up two quick points to make the
score 13-10 in favor of Rollins, but the Tars responded back with
three straight points to lead 16-11. The Pirates came as close as
two to the Tars at the 22-20 mark on a block but a pair of kills
from Camille
Indest and another kill from Collyn
Welsch secured the win.
Rollins fell short in the second set with a 25-19 loss but took
a 2-1 advantage over the Pirates in the third with a 25-18 win.
The Tars registered the most kills in the third set with 16 with
six coming off the hand of Welsch. She finished the night with 16
kills, 18 digs, two service aces and a pair of blocks.
The Tars were unable to wrap up the match in the fourth set,
suffering a 25-22 loss. The Pirates came from behind to tie the
score at 22-all on a kill from Brittany Wolf. A defensive miscue
followed by back-to-back blocks gave Armstrong Atlantic the win and
evened the match to two sets apiece.
Facing a fifth set for the third time this season, Rollins
jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead that forced a Pirate timeout. AASU
fought back and managed to tie the score at the 7-7 mark but were
never able to close the gap as a crucial kill by Lau gave the Tars
a 13-10 lead. Rollins was able to take advantage of a defensive
miscue by the Pirates that gave them match point while a kill from
Indest gave the Tars their first five-set match win.
Four Tars registered double-digit kills with Indest tallying a
match-high 19 kills, to go along with eight digs and five blocks.
Welsch added 16 while Jill
Lau recorded a career-high 15 kills and Aroon
Duncanson 10. Of the Tars' 65 team kills, 53 were attributed
to Kiana
Parks.
Rollins will wrap up the 2012 South/Southeast Region Challenge
on Saturday as they begin the day with an 11 a.m. match up against
the No. 22 Flagler Saints followed by a 2 p.m. match against Puerto
Rico-Rio Piedras. Fans can follow along on the Tars Sports Network
at RollinsSports.com.
