Pride fight but fall 3-0 to No. 21 Central Methodist
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Returning to Heart of America Athletic Conference play for their first home weekend in the Heart, the Clarke University women's volleyball team was unable to pull out any of the three sets in their 3-0 loss to No. 21 Central Methodist University.
Neither side was overly dominant on the attack outside of a strong first set by the Eagles where they hit .308 with only one error as they pulled away to a 19-9, then 23-11, lead before CU went on a 5-0 run to make the final set margin a little closer at 25-16.
Carrying a little bit of that momentum over from the end of the first set into the second set, the Pride wouldn't let CMU get ahead by more than two before a 6-2 run gave Clarke a two-point lead of their own then event had a triple set point at 24-21 before the Eagles eventually tied the set at 24-24 then would score three-straight after CU regained the lead at 26-25 with Guilia Gainelli scoring two of the kills and Martina Gonzato scoring the other.
The final set of the night would see Central Methodist get out to an early five-point lead that would eventually grow to 10 at 22-12 to finish the third at the same score as the first for a 25-16 final to close the match.
Gainelli finished with the match-high in assists with 20 to finish with a double-double at 10 assists while going a perfect 3-for-3 on the attack as Gonzato led the match with 13 kills on 30 swings with only two errors for a .367 hitting percentage while Annabelle Maassen also only had two hitting errors with 11 kills for a .310 hitting percentage and a double-double of her own at a match-high 12 digs.
Clarke's tough night on the attack was emphasized by the fact that only one member of the Pride who had over 10 attempts had double digit kills or a hitting percentage over .100 and that was sophomore Maya Watters who had a team-high 11 kills while hitting .118 as Mia Jaeger recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 assists and 10 digs, both team-highs for CU in those categories on the night.
Both teams were heavy on the block as the Eagles finished with 10 total blocks led by Maggie Johnson's six block assists while Clarke had eight total blocks as a team with Kelsey NeCollins being in on five of those eight blocks with four block assists and a solo block in the match.
It will be a quick turnaround for Pride women's volleyball as they'll prepare for a 12:00 p.m. CT match in the Kehl Center against Missouri Valley College to close out the weekend against the Vikings on Saturday.