OMAHA, Nebraska – McKenzie Adams' match-high 17th kill of the night put a bow on a 25-21, 18-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-10 victory for LOVB Atlanta on Saturday night that gave her team a victory over LOVB Madison.
"There were a lot of ups and downs," Atlanta coach Paulo Coco said. "We played very well sometimes, we played very bad sometimes. We were trying to get more stable.”
Condensed Match Replay | Match Stats | LOVB Atlanta Roster | LOVB Madison Roster
He complimented his players for their fight in a match in which neither team could get the upper hand until Atlanta pulled away in the fifth set.
"We are improving and that's more important."
Adams, an outside hitter who also had two blocks and 13 digs, was complemented by opposite Tessa Grubbs, who added 15 kills, four aces – including three in a row early in the first set – and 10 digs.
"The biggest part was us just coming together and our captain, Kelsey (Cook), saying, 'Hey, we put our foot on the gas and go.'" Daly said.
Atlanta (2-1) got 11 kills from outside Kelsey Cook, who had two aces, a block and also 10 digs. Middle Tia Jimerson had eight kills with no errors in 17 attacks to hit .471 and had four blocks, and Magdalena Jahlarova, who played the second half of the match as the other middle, had seven kills, hitting .500, to go with a block and an assist.
But the player of the match in Liberty First Credit Union Arena was Piyanut Pannoy, the 35-year-old libero from Thailand who was seemingly everywhere all match long, coming up with 21 digs and three assists.
Setter Rachel Fairbanks had 51 assists, two blocks and 12 digs and her team hit .287.
Kayla Haneline, who is from Plattsmouth, about 19 miles south of Omaha, played at Northern Iowa. The middle had four kills, hit .333, and had an ace.
"This is a feeling like no other," Kayla said. "I never thought I'd play here again after college."
Kayla said there were probably 40 total between her friends and family in attendance Saturday.
"I love being in Atlanta, I love the city and the team and everything about it, but the opportunity to come back and play in Omaha in my home state is incredible. I was looking forward to this match a lot," Kayla said.
Madison (1-4), coming off a tough four-set loss to LOVB Omaha the night before that went nearly three hours, continually bounced back before falling behind 13-7 in the fifth.
Daly Santana, who had two kills Friday, led with 12 against Atlanta and had a block and five digs.
Sarah Franklin added 10 kills and had one error in 20 swings to hit .450 and saw time at opposite in the final two sets. She had an ace, a block, four digs and an assist.
Temi Thomas-Ailara had nine kills and nine digs and German outside Jennifer Janiska, getting her first significant playing time for Madison, responded with seven kills, an ace, an assist and 11 digs.
"It's about crunch time," Jennifer said. " ... It's coming. We have all the players. It's there."
Lauren Carlini had 44 assists, a kill, a block and 14 digs. Her team hit .189. Libero Simin Wang had eight digs and two assists, and Milica Medved played a bit in the white jersey, too, tallying eight digs and two assists.
Madison coach Matt Feurbringer noted that "we're putting ourselves in position to win. We're not winning them. We've just got to work harder and get back after it.
"I'm excited to watch our team turn this corner and start winning some of these close games. It's coming. It's coming for us. It's hard to win, but we're a winning team and we have a bunch of great women, strong women and we're going to start winning soon."
LOVB Madison is back home Wednesday when it entertains LOVB Houston. LOVB Atlanta is off until Friday, January 31, when it hosts LOVB Salt Lake.
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