DOUBLE RALLY! Volleyball Starts Kuhn Era With Comeback Wins Over New Haven, West Liberty

Working on your comeback ability wasn't necessarily what first-year Ashland University volleyball head coach Katie Kuhn wanted in her first two matches guiding the Eagles.
 
But her team did more than just work on it, as on Friday (Sept. 1) in the Ashland University Tournament, the Eagles came back from 1-0 down to top New Haven, 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-15), then back from trailing 2-0 for a 3-2 (22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-12) victory over West Liberty.
 
Ashland's last 3-2 win after a 2-0 deficit also came on the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, on Oct. 26, 2019 against Ferris State.
 
NOTABLES

• In the win over New Haven, the Eagles overcame a first-set defeat by hitting at a .392 clip for the remainder of the match.
• Ashland unveiled some new faces in the victory over the Chargers, led by freshman outside hitter Henlie Krause, who recorded 13 kills, four assists and 11 digs in her collegiate debut.
• Junior outside hitter Makenna Belcher paced the defense with 15 digs, while splitting the setting duties were junior Georgi Moody (19 assists) and freshman Kylee Urban (18 assists).
• Ashland out-hit New Haven, .316 to .099, in the victory.
• Against West Liberty, junior middle blocker Bailey Ruth narrowly missed becoming the first player in program history to hit at least .750 in a five-set match, ending at .739 (17 kills, zero errors).
• Junior right-side hitter GraceAnn Hartman, Belcher and Krause each had 11 kills against the Hilltoppers, and Urban (31 assists) and Moody (23 assists) shared setting duties once again.
• Senior libero Katie Thompson recorded a team-high 22 digs, Krause added 19 and Belcher chipped in with 10.

 
QUOTABLES

• "One thing we've talked about in practice, we're slow starters," Kuhn said. "That's something we've definitely been working on. There was some adversity that hit us in this match, but we just kept fighting. This isn't healthy for a coach."
• Ruth said, "When Anna (Krikke) went down (due to injury in set No. 2), I knew I had to pick it up. I just played for her the whole time."
• "Anna is one of our leaders," said Kuhn. "I feel like once we gathered ourselves, this team loves one another. They definitely do it for one another, and are supportive in that sense."
• "It felt great. It's been super fun to be on this team this year," Ruth said. "Super-fun game."

 
UP NEXT
Ashland will play two more matches in its own tournament on Saturday (Sept. 2) against Parkside (2-1, 2:30 p.m.) and D'Youville (1-1, 6:30 p.m.).