SAN MARCOS, Texas – LOVB Salt Lake and LOVB Madison will sleep soundly tonight after each team won during an exhilarating doubleheader Saturday at Strahan Arena that included 10 sets and 430 points.
Three League One Volleyball records were broken during the matches, and two more were tied:
- LOVB Madison opposite hitter Annie Drews Schumacher tallied a league-best 28 kills during the nightcap against LOVB Austin. She broke her own record she set March 20 at Salt Lake.
- LOVB Madison middle blocker Anna Hall posted the best attack efficiency the league has seen, hitting .727 (eight kills, zero errors, 11 attempts) versus Austin.
- LOVB Madison recorded 68 assists as a team, besting the old mark by one.
- LOVB Salt Lake outside hitter Roni Jones-Perry tied the league record with four service aces versus LOVB Omaha.
- Salt Lake and Omaha combined to equal the longest set in LOVB history, playing the second set of the early match to 33-31.
Additionally, Annie, Roni and LOVB Austin opposite Madisen Skinner each recorded their 200th point of the season Saturday, Salt Lake libero Manami Kojima passed the 200-dig barrier, and Madison setter Lauren Carlini became the first athlete in league history to reach 600 assists.
Match One: LOVB Salt Lake def. LOVB Omaha
In Saturday night’s opening clash, LOVB Salt Lake came out on top, beating LOVB Omaha 24-26, 31-33, 25-19, 25-15, 15-11.
Match stats | LOVB Salt Lake roster | LOVB Omaha roster
With the win, Salt Lake moved to 6-8 on the season while Omaha dropped to 5-10. Salt Lake can still finish the regular season anywhere from third to fifth place while Omaha will end in fifth or sixth.
Outside hitter Roni Jones-Perry earned Player of the Match after a stellar performance that featured 28 points: 22 kills, two blocks, and the record-tying four aces. Roni added 14 digs for her third double-double of the season.
“I’m really proud of my crew for grinding it out,” Salt Lake head coach Tama Miyashiro said. “To come back is really important for us at this point of the season.”
Despite going a full five sets less than 24 hours earlier, LOVB Omaha struck first by winning the first two frames, both of which went extra points. Omaha won the final three points to take the first 24-26, and they outlasted Salt Lake 31-33 in the second. Omaha outside hitters Madi Kubik-Banks and Jaali Winters each landed 10 kills in the first two frames.
After a five-set win over LOVB Austin Friday and playing a grueling 114 points in the first two sets Saturday, fatigue finally kicked in for Omaha as Salt Lake won the final three periods. Salt Lake’s reverse sweep began with wire-to-wire victories in sets three and four, out-killing Omaha 28-18 and out-blocking 16-7 in that stretch. As a team, Salt Lake hit .351 across both sets.
“As the match wore on, we had to execute on a couple more plays and find it a bit earlier in the match because the prolonging of it made it challenging,” said Omaha’s Madi Kubik-Banks.
The teams traded points for the first half of set five, but the tides turned in Salt Lake’s favor when Omaha’s Sami Francis left the match with an injury. Roni had four kills and Tori Dixon added two blocks to take the set from 8-8 to 15-11.
“Going into the fifth … we’ve been working to play one point at a time, and the fifth set goes pretty quick, so it’s even more important to stay steady and not let the other team go on runs,” Roni noted. “We did a good job just settling in and staying aggressive with the things we wanted to execute.”
LOVB Omaha outside hitter Amber Stivrins would go on to make her professional debut late in the fourth set and recorded her first professional kill.
Match Two: LOVB Madison def. LOVB Austin
The final match of Week 12 capped a trio of five-setters in Texas as LOVB Madison rallied to stun LOVB Austin in the fifth set for the 22-25, 25-23, 25-12, 23-25, 15-11 win, Madison’s sixth in a row
Match stats | LOVB Madison roster | LOVB Austin roster
With the win, Madison reached the .500 mark for the first time this season. At 7-7, they can clinch second place and a quarterfinal bye at LOVB Finals by winning their remaining two matches, including a season-finale showdown against current second place team LOVB Houston.
Austin, 5-10, can finish No. 4-6 in the regular season standings.
“Well, we’re finding ways to make these games fun,” Madison head coach Matt Fuerbringer said. “[To] never lose focus at the job at hand is really impressive and really good for us to go through as we’re coming into these last couple weeks of the season.”
Saturday night’s home team, Austin kicked things off by winning set one. The pins tandem of Madisen Skinner and Logan Eggleston combined for 11 kills.
In the second, LOVB Madison survived an offensive barrage from Austin to even the match thanks in part to Sarah Franklin’s six kills in the frame. An 11-2 run catapulted Madison ahead in the third, which they won by 13 points. Austin countered with a fourth-set run of their own, never trailing after eliminating a 13-8 Madison lead in the set.
Momentum for Austin carried into the fifth set as they shot out to a 6-1 lead. However, Madison fought back with a 7-1 run of their own. The teams traded points to 10-10, but the visitors won five of the final six points to claim victory, three of which came from the arm of Annie Drews Schumacher.
Annie earned player of the match honors with the record-breaking 28 kills on a blistering .490 attack efficiency. Setter Lauren Carlini tallied 56 assists as Madison hit .348 as a team. Middle blocker Anna Hall also broke a LOVB mark with a .727 attack rating, landing eight kills on 11 errorless attempts.
Middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu led LOVB Austin with 15 points – nine kills, one ace and five blocks. Four others reached double digits as Austin collectively hit .217.
The final week of LOVB’s inaugural regular season kicks off in Omaha on Thursday, April 3, as LOVB Omaha welcomes LOVB Atlanta. LOVB Salt Lake will host the final Weekend with LOVB, featuring LOVB Madison, LOVB Houston and LOVB Austin.
