Thursday (April 1) night's match was exactly what the doctor – and Ashland University head volleyball coach
Kevin Foeman – ordered.
Coming off a four-match losing streak and with a roster having nearly as many players in street clothes as were in uniforms, the Eagles finished the 2021 spring home schedule on Thursday with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-16) victory over Wayne State. Ashland moves to 7-6 overall and in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Warriors are 4-7, 4-7.
"I am so proud," said Foeman. "We are all hands on deck right now, nine people healthy, doing our best, and I think everyone stepped up."
It didn't take long for the Eagles to force a Warrior timeout, as Ashland scored the match's first five points. That match-starting streak ended at 7-0, and the lead eventually was upped to 14-1. Despite briefly losing sophomore setter
Stephanie Smith to injury – adding to the litany of maladies AU already had – the Eagles won the first set.
Junior outside hitter
Erin Krupar led the Ashland offense and the entire match with 13 kills, while adding 11 digs on defense. Junior libero
Sophie Dahn recorded a match-high 18 digs, and Smith returned and finished with 31 assists, tops in the match.
"Stephanie was phenomenal tonight," said Foeman. "Every single person played…they executed the game plan tonight. It was beautiful."
Foeman agreed that the match was won at the net, where his Eagles had a solo block, 12 block assists and no block errors, while WSU had no solo blocks, two block assists and two block errors.
"We challenged our middles before the game," Foeman said. "We said you have one goal, and that was to handle the net and get some blocks. We gave them one specific goal, and they did exactly what we asked them to do."
The Eagles and Warriors will conclude the regular season in Detroit, Mich., on Saturday (April 3) at 2 p.m. The GLIAC Tournament is slated for April 9-11 in University Center, Mich.
"Tonight was huge for us," Foeman said. "We needed that spark. Hopefully, we can get healthy next week. This is a win we needed to have."
AU
VB/DS
