KENT, Ohio – The Eastern Kentucky volleyball team used a match-high 19 kills and .484 hitting percentage from senior Liz Guard to sweep past Dartmouth and take the Kent State Invitational crown with game scores of 30-24, 30-23 and 30-27.
Junior outside hitter Jessica Sabath tallied her second straight double-double with 17 digs and 10 kills in support of Guard, the Tournament MVP, who had 52 kills in three tournament games. EKU (5-3) also got strong performances from sophomores Brittany Nobilio and Amy Arlinghaus who had 15 digs and 17 kills, respectively.
The Colonels got off to a roaring start against the Big Green (1-3) as they jumped to a 10-3 lead off a kill from junior Kasha Brozek. Dartmouth managed to close the lead to one at 19-18, but EKU stopped the rally with consecutive kills from Arlinghaus and Sabath and went on to the six-point victory.
The Colonels used a .435 hitting percentage to cruise to victory in game two, but Dartmouth did not go quietly in game three taking an early 11-7 lead. EKU fought back to take its largest lead of the game at 27-21 on a Dartmouth attack error. The Big Green regrouped to cut the lead to two at 28-26, but kills from Guard and Arlinghaus gave EKU its second tournament title of the season.
The Colonels return to action this Friday at 7:30 p.m. as they host Marquette in the first match of the Nike Challenge.
Kent State Invitational All-Tournament TeamMVP: Liz Guard, Eastern KentuckyAmy Arlinghaus, Eastern KentuckyDanielle Holt, Kent State
Jess Thomas, Dartmouth
Kelly Duan, Syracuse
Jeanette Schneider, Robert Morris
