Elon 3, UNC Greensboro 1
ELON, N.C. ? Juliena Gigon posted a career-high 20 kills while Emily Lucci recorded a double-double to lead the Elon Phoenix to a 3-1 (30-28, 30-32, 30-25, 30-18) win over Southern Conference foe UNC Greensboro on Tuesday night in Alumni Gym.
Gigon tallied 20 kills and only two errors on 34 attempts, recording a .529 hitting percentage for the night. Lucci notched 16 kills and 10 digs along with two service aces and three total blocks. Brooke Pickard posted a career-best 21 digs on the night to go with two service aces. Britany Westphal tallied 12 kills while Lindsay Reinhardt posted a career-high five service aces. Natalie Moore took care of the setting duties for Elon with 55 assists along with nine digs and three service aces.
UNC Greensboro (4-21, 2-12) was led offensively by Hilary Overby with 11 kills while Lauren Keiser posted nine and Kaitlyn Nortz had eight. Alysia Rosvold paced the defense with 11 digs and Overby posted nine. Adrian Hicks recorded 37 assists for the Spartans.
Game one saw 15 tie scores and seven lead changes with neither team ever leading by more than four. A service ace by Ashley Ruckert knotted the game 26-26 and Elon went up by one on Lucci kill, 27-26. The Spartans tied the game at 27-27 before Elon earned two points on a UNCG service error and a kill by Gigon to go up 29-27. A kill by Adrian Hicks put the Spartans within one at 29-28 but Elon closed the game on a kill from Gigon, 30-28.
In game two, the Spartans led by six at 24-18 before Elon went on an 8-2 run to tie the score 26-26 behind the serve of Lucci and Reinhardt. The Spartans took the 28-26 advantage on a kill from Overby and an Elon attack error. Elon got back-to-back kills from Gigon and Emily Downing to tie the game 28-28. After a tie at 29-29 and 30-30, the Spartans ended the game 32-30 on a kill from Lori Collins and an Elon attack error.
Elon (7-19, 5-9) jumped to an early lead in game three and never looked back. Up by 11 at 28-17, the Spartans rattled off six straight points behind the serve of Liz Benzschawell to get within five at 28-23, but Elon quickly put two more points on the board to stop the Spartan threat and end the game 30-25.
In game four, Elon again took an early advantage and maintained the lead for the duration of the game. Ahead 27-18, Elon closed the game on back-to-back service aces by Reinhardt and a kill from Lucci. Elon posted a .370 hitting percentage in the game compared to UNCG’s -.172 hitting percentage.
Elon returns to action on Friday, Nov. 4 in a 7 p.m. match at Furman while UNC Greensboro will visit Furman on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.