FROSTBURG, Md. — Fairmont State volleyball defeated Frostburg State 3-1 on Tuesday at Bobcat Arena, winning by set scores of 25-15, 25-20, 22-25 and 26-24. The Falcons finished with 60 kills and hit .245 while holding the Bobcats to a .143 attack percentage.
In the opening set, the Falcons overcame a 5-2 deficit with a 6-0 response, moving ahead 8-5 behind kills from
Kailyn Connelly,
Josie Nobbe and
Averi Martin, plus a Grace Devall service ace. The visitors continued to create separation through the middle of the set, with
Alexa Martin adding a kill and a block assist during a stretch that helped the Falcons build a 16-9 lead.
The Bobcats cut into the margin at points, but the Falcons answered with kills from
Natalie Zemba and Nobbe before closing from 21-15 on
Zoe Ringer's serve. Ringer had a service ace in the final push, and Connelly supplied two late kills, including the set-ending point in a 25-15 Falcons win.
The Falcons led from the opening point of the second set and closed it out 25-20, with Nobbe finishing the frame on a kill from
Belle DeVall. The set started with a Zemba-
Averi Martin block and a Nobbe kill from Grace Devall, and the Falcons built an 8-3 lead behind another Nobbe kill, a Connelly kill, a Nobbe ace and a Connelly-
Alexa Martin block.
The Falcons added separation from 9-6 to 13-6 with a Zemba kill, a
Baylie Ostvig kill from Devall and two Bobcats attack errors, then pushed the margin to 19-11 on a Nobbe kill, an Ostvig kill and Nobbe's second ace. The Bobcats later worked back to 22-19, but the Falcons answered with an
Averi Martin kill, reached set point on an attack error and finished the set on Nobbe's sixth kill.
Belle DeVall served the Falcons to four straight points to start the third set, including consecutive kills by
Averi Martin, but the Bobcats later erased the early lead and moved ahead during a stretch that put the Falcons down 19-13. The Falcons answered from there, getting a Zemba kill and a Zemba-Nobbe block as part of a push that brought the set to 20-18.
Nobbe continued to keep the Falcons close late with three kills after the Bobcats reached 23 points, including one that made it 24-22. The Bobcats finished the set on the next point, taking it 25-22. The set was the first one an opponent had taken off the Falcons since September 12.
In the fourth set, the Falcons overcame a mid-set deficit and held off a late Bobcats push to win 26-24. After trailing 10-8, the Falcons won seven of the next eight rallies, getting kills from Connelly,
Alexa Martin, Zemba,
Elena Thompson and
Belle DeVall while also benefiting from Bobcats errors to move ahead 16-11.
The Falcons kept the margin at 22-18 on a Thompson kill before the Bobcats answered with four straight points to tie the set at 22-22. Zemba and
Averi Martin delivered late kills for the Falcons, and after the set was tied again at 24-24, consecutive Bobcats errors closed out the set for the Falcons.
Nobbe led the Falcons with 18 kills and 20.5 points, adding 11 digs and two service aces. Zemba finished with nine kills on 11 attacks with no errors for an .818 hitting percentage and added two block assists. Grace Devall recorded a team-high 18 digs and added six assists.
Belle DeVall posted 29 assists, nine digs and one kill on her lone attack.
Fairmont State (17-4, 6-0) remains on the road on Friday, October 9 to face West Virginia State. Match time from Institute, West Virginia is set for 7:00 p.m.
