Southern Miss
Marshall
Golden Eagles use late surge to win at Marshall
9/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. -- Good things happen to teams who post 8-0 runs in a set, especially late. Southern Miss did just that in its fourth and final round of a 3-1 win over Marshall (25-23, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18) in its first C-USA road match of the season Friday.
Setter Sarah Bell continued her torrid offensive pace with seven kills on 11 attacks (.545 hitting percentage). The Golden Eagles shook off an .075 hitting percentage in the first set to improve to .108 and .163 before a remarkable .393 clip in the final round. Kylie Grandy provided an early offensive surge en route to her seventh double-double of the season (13 kills, 13 digs).
"I'm really happy to come home with a win," head coach Amanda Berkley said. "We struggled offensively at times, but I'm glad we pulled through. Kylie had a very nice serving run in the fourth to give us a good lead."
Grandy, who was tied for the league lead with 23 aces, had three more on the evening. It was her most since also having a trio on Sept. 2 at South Alabama.
The Herd (6-12, 1-2 C-USA) took their 15-14 lead in the fourth set, looking to push it to a fifth. Bell snuck one in for the tie, and it was all Black and Gold from there. Grandy added two aces in that span, and Marshall's timeout at 17-15 did little to stop the attack.
Southern Miss (11-7, 2-1 C-USA) led 24-18 in the first set before the Herd staged a huge rally of their own to get within 24-22. The Golden Eagles called a timeout, and after another Marshall kill, Bell picked one up by way of Natalie Druhan's assist to save the set.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles held Marshall to a .139 hitting percentage, the 11th time they limited a league opponent to a sub-.200 mark since the start of the 2016 season. The Herd hit -.024 in the second set.
The Golden Eagles now take the weekend off before playing its final non-conference match of the year on Monday at Jackson State. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m.
NOTABLE
-The Golden Eagles have won five of their last six road, regular-season matches in league play.
-Sarah Bell is now hitting .383 on the season. She now has 3,390 assists in her career, which is 126 behind Marda Bendel (1983-86) for No. 5 all-time in school history.
-Catherine Repsher provided some much-needed offensive efficiency, totaling seven kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
-The team's 12 blocks were their second-most on the season.
-Dani Ajayi made her second-career start, and Lainey Aenchbacher her first (also fifth appearance of the season for the freshman).
