Sept. 12, 2009

Box Score

Oxford, Ohio - Continuing their run at the Miami Best Western Invitational in Oxford, Ohio, the Pacific women's volleyball team took down St. John's, 3-0, on Saturday, September 12. The win moved the Tigers to 2-0 at the tournament and 6-1 on the year while the Red Storm fell to 4-6.

Set scores for the match were: 25-22, 25-20, 25-22.

Playing against a large front line in the Red Storm attackers, the Tigers put together a solid showing defensively at the net and took advantage of their athleticism on the outside to sweep past St. John's.  As they have done throughout the start of the 2009 season, the Tigers combined a potent serving attack with a balanced offensive attack to put away three straight close sets against the Red Storm.

In set one, the Tigers broke a 21-21 tie with a 4-1 run to close out the opening set win.  Senior Mallori Gibson (Bakersfield, Calif.) proved to be the difference maker in the early going of the match, posting seven kills in the first set to go along with the lone Tiger service ace.  Gibson served out three of the final four points for the Tigers and closed the set with her seventh and final kill.

Set two was no different for the Tigers and the Red Storm as the two teams battled back-and-forth with the set coming to a head at 17-17.  Unlike the previous night, Pacific showed its killer instinct, putting the Red Storm away with an 8-3 run, primarily behind the serve of senior Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland).  During the run, Tomaszewska dropped in her lone service ace of the match and the third of four in the set for the Tigers.  Additionally, her tough serve took the Red Storm out of their offensive system, giving the Tigers the advantage they needed to close out the set and take a 2-0 lead in the match.  Fittingly, it was a service ace that ended the set for the Tigers when junior Svenja Engelhardt (Sinsheim, Germany) put an end to the match with a well placed jump serve into the heart of the Red Storm defense.

Looking to close out the set in a sweep, the Tigers again powered past the Red Storm late in set three, breaking a 21-21 tie with a 4-1 run that gave Pacific the 3-0 win and a trip to the championship match of the tournament.  After ending the previous set with her first ace of the afternoon, Engelhardt found her rhythm at the net offensively in the final set, leading the team with seven kills on 12 swings, missing just once to finish the match with a match-best 13 kills and just two errors on 22 swings.

In addition to her kills, Engelhardt added a pair of aces to go along with three digs.  Gibson finished two kills off of Engelhardt's pace, closing the three set match with 11 kills.  She added an five digs and four blocks to go along with one ace.  Senior Olivia Riley (Agua Dulce, Calif.) was steady in the heart of the Tigers' offense posting 35 assists.  However, her defense proved to be at its best as she posted a career-high three blocks including two solo efforts.  As a team the Tigers posted eight blocks on the day.

For the Red Storm, Darlene Ramdin posted a team-best 12 kills on 30 swings throughout the match.  She also posted four blocks as St. John's tallied eight team blocks led by Diana Banya's five.

The Tigers will be back in action in the final match of the Miami Best Western Invitational as they take on the tournament host Miami (OH) Redhawks in the the champoinship match at 7:00 pm ET.  Both teams enter the match a perfect 2-0 at the tournament.