Dalton State’s volleyball team started out strong, but had to hold tight to knock-off visiting Faulkner University (from Montgomery) in a hard fought Saturday afternoon match at Bandy Gymnasium/Coach O Court.
It took four sets and it looked a lot like a fifth set was coming, but the Lady Roadrunners bested the Lady Eagles in four sets (25-18, 25-14, 13-25, 26-24).
“They played their hearts out and ended up winning,” DS Coach Bruna Langner said of her Lady Roadrunners.
Alyne Bianchi and Anna Metzler each had 11 kills and 18 defensive digs. Michala Askew had 31 assists to go with her 22 on Friday. She also had 18 defensive digs and three kills. Karly Newman had 16 digs and Tori Pierce had ten. Wendy Perez and Savannah Nelson each had seven kills. Kianna Delaney had five kills and six digs.
The Lady Roadrunners dominated the first two sets, 25-18 and 25-14. They only trailed once in the opener (4-3) and never fell behind in the second set.
The third set was an entirely different story. Faulkner jumped out to a 5-1 lead and went on to the easy 12 point win, 25-13.
Faulkner (12-7, 3-4 SSAC) broke open a 7-7 tie in the fourth set to take a 16-10 lead. The teams swapped scoring for a while as the Lady Eagles kept the six point lead at 21-15. That is when Dalton State took command with an eight point turn around. The Lady Roadrunners came back to lead 24-23. FU tied the set at 24 before DS scored the final two points for the 26-24 victory.
Dalton State (7-5, 3-4 SSAC) will play Southern Wesleyan University in Central, S.C., on Tuesday night at 7.
Dalton State 25 25 13 26 - 3
Faulkner University 18 14 25 24 - 1