The University of Akron Athletics
Zips Off To Best Start Since 1995 With Fifth Straight Win
September 03 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 3, 2005
Box Score
Akron, Ohio - The University of Akron volleyball team won its fifth-straight match to begin the 2005 season in its first of two matches on Saturday at the James A. Rhodes Arena. The Zips (5-0) downed Oakland University (0-4) in three games, 30-25, 30-28, 30-25. Led by sophomore Jennifer Stewart's (Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood) 11 kills and 10 digs and senior Rachael Rush's (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) 31 assists, UA is off to the best start since the 1994 volleyball team started the season 12-0.
In game one, UA and Oakland lived off of each others errors in the first half of the game, as both teams held attack percentages of under .120 with the Zips holding a slim 13-11 advantage. Akron was able to take advantage of the Grizzlies errors and gain a 21-14 lead as senior Emily Kocinski (North Royalton, Ohio/Padua) recorded three service aces in the game. Oakland made a late charge, but the blue and gold held on to close out game on 30-25.
The Golden Grizzlies cleaned up their play in the game two and kept the score close as the two teams exchanged minor leads and were tied at 25-25 late in the game. Back-to-back kills by Oakland and a service ace by Heather Lippert gave the Golden Grizzlies a three-point lead at 28-25. However, the Zips earned a side-out and rattled off four straight points on Rush's serve to take game two, 30-28.
With the two game lead, the Zips shut the door on the match as
Oakland held a slim lead throughout the match, but with the score
tied at 21-21 the Zips took their first lead, 22-21, since they
lead 4-3 early in the game. UA closed the match out on a 9-4 run.
Sophomore Molly Rutledge (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) tied Stewart with
a team-high 11 kills in the match, while junior Kim Horn (North
Canton, Ohio/Jackson) had a match-high 21 digs.
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In the first match of the day, West Virginia dominated Elon University for its second win of the Hilton Invitational. The Mountaineers cruised to a 3-0 win, 30-14, 30-26, 30-22. WVU was led by the combination of Kelly Mullins and Stephanie Zolna, who each had more kills in game one than Elon did as a team in the first game. They finished with 19 kills and 14 kills respectively. Kailee Goold had a match-high 39 assists. Elon was paced by Ashley Ruckert's eight kills and Brooke Pickard's 12 digs.
The Hilton Invitational concludes with two matches this evening as the Oakland Golden Grizzlies take on the Elon Phoenix at 5:00 p.m., followed by the Mountaineers and the Zips as each team will put their 2-0 records in the Invitational on the line starting at 7:00 p.m.
