Volleyball Shows Improvement During Winless Weekend

FAIRMONT, West Virginia (September 1, 2012) - An 0-4 start wasn't what the Urbana University volleyball team had in mind for its opening weekend at the Fairmont State Invitational, but the Blue Knights showed improvement and fight at the end of long weekend.  New Head Coach Troy Haught still hasn't secured his first collegiate victory after the winless weekend, but his squad showed signs that they won't have to wait long to nail down win #1 in 2012.

Urbana opened the Invitational against their hosts from Fairmont State.  Coming off a 24-win season, the Falcons cruised to a straight sets victory over the Blue Knights, 25-14, 25-13, 25-11. Amy Hickman's 9 digs and Kelsey Volkmer's 3 kills and 3 solo blocks were the highlights of an otherwise forgettable opening match.

The Blue Knights won their first set in the second match on Friday, but they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Griffins from Seton Hill University.  Redshirt freshman Katlin Kremer played a fantastic match in just her second career appearance, finishing with 13 kills and 3 solo blocks.  Hickman's 16 digs once again led the defense and senior setter Karla Vogel tallied 17 assists in the loss.

In the 8:00 a.m. match on Saturday, Urbana fell 25-18, 25-19, 27-25 to the University of Pitt-Johnstown.  Volkmer's 7 kills nearly helped the Blue Knights edge UPJ in the third set, but they fell just shy of sending it into a fourth set in extras.  Vogel handed out 16 assists in defeat.

Refusing to give up on a difficult weekend, the Blue Knights nearly pulled off a 5-set thriller against West Liberty University in the late match Saturday.  Urbana won a tight first set 25-23, but dropped the second set in extras 26-24.  After a 25-21 loss in set #3, Urbana forced a fifth set with a dominant 25-18 win in set #4.  A back-and-forth final set finished with the Hilltoppers on top 15-12.  Volkmer's swing was on in the marathon match.  The super sophomore finished with 20 kills on 38 attempts.  She also had 4 blocks.  Paige Heistan had her best match of the weekend, racking up 12 kills and 14 digs.  Kremer added 11 kills and 4 blocks.  Hickman was fantastic in the back row, digging 28 balls, and freshman Mary Hendricks led the way with 28 assists and 3 aces to go with her 12 digs.

The Blue Knights (0-4) return home to host their first home match of the season on Tuesday night.  Urbana welcomes future conference foe West Virginia State to town for a 7:00 p.m. match.  [Fairmont State Invite Stats]