FAIRMONT, W.Va. — The Fairmont State University volleyball team defeated Point Park 3-0 on Friday at Joe Retton Arena, winning by set scores of 25-21, 25-12 and 25-17. The Falcons hit .216 while holding the Pioneers to .028 and finished with a 44-26 advantage in kills.
The Falcons answered an early 9-7 deficit with a six-point run, moving in front 13-9 behind a
Natalie Zemba kill, two Zemba-
Averi Martin blocks and back-to-back
Elena Thompson kills set up by
Belle DeVall. At the start of the set, the Falcons had traded points through the opening stretch, getting kills from
Averi Martin,
Kailyn Connelly and Zemba while Grace Devall added a service ace.
The Pioneers later cut the margin to 20-19 and again to 22-21, but the Falcons responded with a Pioneers attack error, a Connelly kill and a
Josie Nobbe kill to finish the set. The Falcons took the opening set 25-21.
The Falcons controlled the second set with an early six-point run, turning a 4-2 edge into a 10-2 lead behind Nobbe's serve.
Belle DeVall opened the set with a service ace and assisted back-to-back Nobbe kills, then Nobbe added an ace during the run while
Averi Martin supplied two early kills.
The Falcons kept adding separation through the middle of the set, getting kills from Zemba, Thompson and Connelly, plus a block by
Alexa Martin and Connelly to move ahead 14-4. After the Pioneers put together a brief late response, Nobbe answered with a kill and
Baylie Ostvig delivered the Falcons' final two points, both off DeVall assists, to close a 25-12 set win.
The Falcons overcame an early 2-1 deficit in the third set with a nine-point run, moving in front on an
Averi Martin kill and stretching the lead to 10-2 behind Grace Devall's service turn. Connelly was involved in multiple blocks during that surge, while Ostvig added back-to-back kills to help the Falcons create separation.
The Pioneers answered with three straight points to get to 10-5, but the Falcons responded with a Connelly kill and consecutive blocks to push the margin back to 13-5. The Falcons continued to trade points from there, getting late kills from Ostvig, Connelly, Nobbe and Zemba before closing the set 25-17.
Connelly finished with nine kills while hitting .412 and added a team-high seven total blocks.
Belle DeVall recorded 24 assists, five digs and two service aces. Grace Devall collected a team-high 14 digs and added four assists with one ace. Ostvig posted seven kills on nine attacks without an error, hitting .778 with two block assists.
Fairmont State (16-4, 5-0) begins a three-match road stretch on Tuesday, October 6 at Frostburg State University. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m.
