Box Score ST. LOUIS – E.C. Burkman threw down 22 kills, and finished the night with a .444 kill percentage to lead the Spalding University volleyball team to a 3-1 (27-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20) victory over Fontbonne University.
Sophomore
Victoria Heitzman added 16 kills, while
Katelyn Cosgrove passed out a 56 assists. Cosgrove also anchored the defense with 15 digs, while
Jessica Diehl and
Erin Downs combined for six blocks.
Spalding jumped out to a 1-0 advantage winning the first set, 27-25. Three Burkman kills and a Heitzman service ace gave the Golden Eagles an early 4-0 lead. Despite the great start, Spalding found themselves trailing 24-21 following a Mandy DeWitt kill, but back-to-back Heitzman kills and a Jennifer Wang attack error knotted the score 24-24. Fontbonne's Claire Domian killed the ball to give the Griffins a 25-24 lead, but another Heitzman kill tied the score, and Burkman took the game with her 10
th kill of the set.
Similar to the first set, Spalding jumped out front early taking a 15-8 advantage following an
April Fisher kill. Spalding outscored Fontbonne 4-1, and a Heitzman kill gave SU their largest lead of the set at 19-9. The Griffins made a late push, but the game was never in doubt as a Heitzman attack found the floor to take the set 25-20.
Opposite of the first two sets, Spalding fell behind to start the third set. SU began the set with a Burkman attack error and trailed 3-1 following an attack error by
Erin Downs. The Golden Eagles battled back to cut the deficit to three points at 23-20, but consecutive Heitzman attack errors gave Fontbonne the set, 25-20.
The Golden Eagles got off to a hot start in the fourth set taking a 4-1 lead on a Downs' kill. Fontbonne ran off three straight points to even the score at 4-4, but Spalding outscored the Griffins 16-9 to take a set-high 20-13 lead following a Diehl kill. A Kersten McDonough kill cut Spalding's lead to three points, but back-to-back
Erin Downs' kills closed the door on the Griffins as SU won the set 25-20 to end the match.
Up next, the Golden Eagles will play a quad match at Webster Saturday, September 27. Spalding will take on the host Gorloks at 1:00 p.m., EST, followed by a match against Greenville at 3:00 p.m., EST.
