Box Score RUSSELVILLE, Ark. (September 19, 2014) – A career-high 10 blocks by
Amy Edwards along with double-digit kills from
Channing Castleberry,
Ariel Froeschl and
Abby White steered Lubbock Christian to a non-conference four-set victory over Arkansas Tech Friday afternoon at Tucker Coliseum.
Edwards' shining performance consisted of three solo blocks and seven block assists, the highest total since a nine-block outing by Froeschl just over a year ago. The junior middle blocker also added eight kills and a service ace on the afternoon.
The Golden Suns, the 2013 Great American Conference champs, proved to be tough opponent for the Lady Chaps, as three of the four sets were decided by only two points. ATU's 6-2 middle blocker, Katie Huff, was especially difficult to contain, throwing down 19 kills at a .552 clip.
In set one,
Christiana Tavo put the Lady Chaps (6-1, 4-1 Heartland) into a 21-21 tie with a powerful hit that found its way through two ATU blockers. The score was again knotted at 22 and 23-all before the Golden Suns (6-4, 2-0 GAC) inched ahead on a kill by McCall Wilkins, prompting head coach
Jennifer Lawrence to call a timeout. With the game point on the line, a bad reception from a serve by Arkansas-Tech's Sierra Nighswonger was unable to be salvaged by a hustling
Christa Daniel, allowing the Golden Suns to escape with the 25-23 win. Set two was quite resemblant of the first and included two timeouts apiece from LCU and ATU during the final six points, with the Lady Chaps eking out the victory after a kill by White.
With game three tied at 6-6, a kill by Froeschl, block by Edwards and Tavo, and kill by
Erin Fisher gave the Lady Chaps a three-point edge before another headsy play by Fisher surprised the Golden Sun defense to put LCU up 13-9. Froeschl supplied a kill from the middle to increase the Lady Chap lead to 15-10, but it would be her last of the day, as the middle blocker left the game with an ankle injury and was unable to return. Possibly shaken by Froeschl's injury, LCU gave up a 6-1 run, allowing ATU to knot the game at 16-16. A kill by
Samantha Matthews combined with a pair of Golden Sun attack errors pushed the Lady Chaps in front at 19-16, and LCU was able to put together a 6-2 run to finish the contest and take a 2-1 match lead.
A good start to set four helped the Lady Chaps jump out to a 5-2 lead until an LCU service error and a trio of Huff kills gave the lead to ATU. The Golden Suns worked their way up to their own three-point advantage at 10-7, but the Lady Chaps responded with five unanswered points to retake the lead at 12-10. A kill by Wilkins gave her team a 16-15 edge, but kills by Edwards and
Maddie Johnson along with an ATU attack error forced the Golden Suns to take a timeout with LCU leading 18-16. Ties occurred at every point beyond 18 before the Golden Suns were in control with match point at 24-23, but a vital block by Edwards and White gave the Lady Chaps another chance. White smacked a kill off an ATU blocker to inch LCU one point closer to victory, and the Lady Chaps were able to celebrate after a Golden Sun attack attempt sailed wide.
The Lady Chaps get back to Heartland Conference action to wrap up their three-day, three-match tour tomorrow at Dallas Baptist at noon.