The Dalton State volleyball team played some of the best sets of the season Saturday as they bested Brenau and Loyola, each by 3-1 scores. The win allows the Roadrunners to advance to a Saturday 12 noon ET (11:00 a.m. central) semi-final game at the Cramton Bowl Multilex.
Dalton State 25 25 20 25 - 3
Loyola University 22 22 25 14 - 1
Dalton State eliminated Loyola of New Orleans in four sets in Friday’s second match.
Anna Metzler had 13 kills and 19 digs. Kianna Delaney had 11 kills and six digs. Alyne Bianchi had eight kills and 25 digs. Savannah Nelson had eight kills. Michala Askew had 40 assists and 19 digs. Karly Newman had 24 digs.
The Roadrunners captured the first set against the Wolf Pack by breaking a 9-9 tie and jumping out to a 21-15 lead. Dalton State then held on for the final 25-22 score.
The Roadrunners scored the first four points of the second set and were never tied, but Loyola came back to within one point late (23-22). Dalton scored the game’s final two points for the 25-22 win.
Loyola started with a 4-1 lead in the third set and never trailed. Dalton pulled to within one at 10-9, but found themselves down by nine at 21-12. The Roadrunners pulled to within four at 24-20 before the Wolf Pack scored the final point for the 25-20 win.
The fourth set was never in doubt as the Roadrunners scored 13 of the first 14 points and rolled to a 25-14 victory.
The Roadrunners Defeated Brenau
Dalton State 28 19 25 27 - 3
Brenau University 26 25 18 25 - 1
Dalton State finally knocked off Brenau University in the first match Friday morning and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.
Dalton bested the Golden Eagles in four sets Friday. Brenau had defeated the Roadrunners in both regular season games – 3-0 on September 11th In Gainesville and 3-1 on October 21st at Coach O Court.
Dalton State junior Kianna Delaney had a match high 19 kills and eight digs. Senior Alyne Bianchi had a dozen kills and 11 digs. Savannah Nelson had nine kills and five digs. Anna Metzler had eight kills and 19 digs. Michala Askew 44 assists and nine digs for the Roadrunners. Karly Newman posted 14 digs.
Brenau broke a 25-25 tie in the first set, but Dalton State scored three straight to take the 28-26 victory. The second set was close early with the last tie at ten. The Golden Eagles outscored the Roadrunners 15-9 down the stretch to win 25-19.
Dalton State jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the third game. The closest Brenau could get from there was four points (16-12). The Roadrunners went on to an easy 25-18 victory.
Brenau would not give up. The fourth set was close all of the way. Dalton State had a three point lead at 24-21, but the Golden Eagles came back to tie the game at 24 and again at 25. The Roadrunners scored two for the 27-25 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
While Dalton and Brenau were playing on court one, Faulkner defeated Bethel 3-2 on court two.
Bethel had won the first two sets, 25-18 and 26-24, but Faulkner came back to win the next two games, 25-20 and 28-26. Even the tie-breaker was close with Faulkner winning 15-13.
Coastal Georgia defeated Loyola 3-0 in their first game of the day 25-16, 25-20, 25-14). Mobile knocked off Martin Methodist 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-17). Bethel College (TN) then eliminated Martin Methodist 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-20).
Coastal Georgia and Brenau play at 6:00 p.m. ET while Mobile and Faulkner play each other.