INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Despite a career-high 21 kills from senior outside hitter Liliana Kinder, the Anderson volleyball team dropped a five-set decision to UIndy, 3-2, (25-15, 23-25, 25-23, 20-25, 14-16) Friday night at the Indianapolis Tournament, at the Athletics and Recreation Center.
"Overall, we had a good opening day," said Anderson head coach Todd Hay. "We found a good rhythm in the morning but just couldn't finish at the end of match two. Both teams were siding out at a very high level in set five, so that was fun to see. Tomorrow we face two really strong teams so it will be an excellent test of how well we can bounce back and improve on today's play."
Anderson slipped to 1-1 on the early season, while UIndy improved to 2-0 after shutting out Montevallo earlier in the day.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Kinder posted her career-best effort on the strength of a .327 hitting percentage, while freshman outside hitter Kaitlyn Barrett added 10 kills and committed just one error in 16 swings for a .562 hitting accuracy. Junior Rylie Sargent posted nine kills and a pair of block assists, with senior middle hitter Noelle Knutsen and junior Tabitha Wheeler each recording seven kills apiece. Knutsen added four solo blocks and four block assists, with Wheeler chipping in 10 digs and two block assists.
Junior Jaelyn Grimm tallied six kills, five digs and four block assists, with senior Alexandra Petrilli coming up with 19 digs and a pair of service aces. Senior Lindsay McCurley recorded 18 digs and four aces, while senior setter Madison Roy dished out 45 assists and added eight digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
Knutsen and Kinder each posted four kills in the opening set, and the Trojans rallied from an early 8-5 deficit to claim the decisive victory.
AU snapped an 8-8 deadlock with an 8-2 scoring outburst that was fueled by a pair of kills from Kinder and two aces from Petrilli, with the Trojans going on to gain a 20-11 advantage on a kill from Wheeler and finishing with the double-digit win.
Second Set
Kinder and Wheeler combined for 11 kills in the second frame, with Knutsen adding a solo block and three block assists.
The Trojans fell behind, 12-5, but chipped away and eventually knotted the score at 20-20 on Wheeler's fourth kill of the set, but even though the Trojans deadlocked the score again at 23 apiece, they were unable to wretle the lead away from the Greyhounds, who came up with the final two points on a kill and a block assist.
Third Set
Behind a balanced attack, the Trojans reversed their fortunes in the third stanza, but not before rallying from a 14-8 deficit and then again after trailing 19-15.
Trailing by the four points, AU crept back and tied the score at 22-22 on an error by the Greyhounds. Following a Trojan miscue, Sargent knotted the score at 23 apiece with her seventh kill of the night and AU claimed the set on back-to-back attack errors by UIndy.
Fourth Set
The Trojans were unable to overcome 11 attack errors and hit just -.061 in the fourth set, with Kinder and Barrett teaming up for seven kills.
UIndy grabbed the early lead and never trailed, as the Greyhounds claimed a 14-6 edge and led 23-16, before Kinder knocked down back-to-back kills to get the Trojans within six. Following a kill from UIndy's Lauren Cullison, the Trojans held off set point three times before the Greyhounds finished off the set.
Fifth Set
Barrett and Kinder again led the offensive attack with a combined seven kills.
The score was tied twice early, with UIndy edging out to a three-point, 5-2, lead, and although AU climbed back within one on eight occasions before tying the score at 14-14 on a solo block by Knutsen, the Trojans were unable to take the lead and UIndy scored the final two points for the narrow win.
NOTABLES
• AU and Indianapolis were meeting for the third time in school history and the first time since 2019.
• The Trojans defeated UIndy, 3-1, at the 2018 Coker/Francis Marion Tournament.
• The Greyhounds defeated AU, 3-1, at the 2019 Cedarville Yellow Jacket Invite.
• The Trojans hit .351 in the first set and .417 in the fifth frame, while UIndy hit .481 in the final set.
• Kinder leads AU with 33 kills (4.12/set) through two matches.
• Roy paces the Trojans with 85 assists (10.62/set) following the first two matches.
• Petrilli is leading a balanced defensive effort with 35 digs.
• Knutsen and Grimm have knocked 11 total blocks and 10 blocks, respectively.
UP NEXT
Anderson is slated to meet Wayne State, Saturday morning, with first-serve scheduled for 10 a.m.
