FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State volleyball team split their final two games of the regular season, beating Clarkson and falling to Geneseo, on the second day of the Frostburg Quad Match on Saturday afternoon.
Game 1
Frostburg State dispatched their first opponent of the day, defeating Clarkson, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23).
The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead, as they went on a 4-0 run highlighted by an ace from junior libero Cori Smothers and a kill from junior Biamba Tshitenge to take a 4-1 advantage. From then on, Frostburg held the lead until it closed the set with a kill from first-year Haley Altemus to give the Bobcats a 25-21 set victory.
It was the Golden Knights' turn to jump out to an early lead in the second set, as they scored five of the set's first six points. Junior Rachel Reusch led the charge with two kills in the run. The Bobcats would answer back however, scoring 10 of the next 11 points, including a 7-0 that included an ace from junior Hannah Brown and a tag-team block from Tshitenge and junior Bailey Godlove, to give Frostburg an 11-6 advantage.
Clarkson kept the score close enough to allow them to take one last push to the finish. The Golden Knights rattled off six-consecutive points to come from behind and win the set, 25-22, evening the game at one set apiece.
Frostburg again jumped out to an early set lead, scoring four of the first five points in the third frame. With the score being 8-5, the Bobcats put some distance between themselves and Clarkson, scoring five-straight points and seven of the next eight points to give them a nine-point cushion. The Golden Knights didn't go down quietly however, as they went on a 6-0 run later on in the set to shrink their deficit to 16-13. The Bobcats held off the Clarkson attack, as they won the set, 25-21.
The Bobcats trailed 9-5 early in the fourth set, but they evened the score as they went on a 4-0 run that featured two kills from the fist of Tshitenge. The Golden Knights took the lead late, 23-21 after a 4-0 run of their own as they looked to force a fifth set, but FSU countered with another four-straight points to leapfrog over Clarkson on their way to a 25-23 set win, clinching the match victory for the Bobcats.
Junior Ashante Corey-Bey swatted away five blocks, a team-high, to go along with her 11 kills.Tshitenge collected a team-high of 13 kills and added three blocks of her own. Junior KatieOnyundo's 39 assists led the team and her 20 digs gave her a double-double on the score sheet.
Game 2
Frostburg closed out their home quad match in a match they ultimately lost against SUNYGeneseo, 3-0 (16-25, 18-25, 17-25).
With the score deadlocked at 3-3 early in the first set, the Bobcats went on their first run of the match, scoring four in a row, which was highlighted by a kill from both Tshitenge and Smothers. The Knights stormed back with a 10-0 run of their own which was led by three kills and a block from first-year outside hitter Maddie McLaughlin and two kills and a block from sophomore Allison Wick. The run gave the Knights a 13-7 lead, and they would never relinquish the lead, as they ran to a 25-16 set win.
Another early run propelled the Knights to a set victory in the second set, as they scored six of seven points to take an 8-3 lead, thanks in part to two aces from first-year Morgan Michalski. A couple of 3-0 runs from the Bobcats brought them to within a point of the Knights at 13-12, but the Knights never gave up the lead, taking the set, 25-18, to give them a 2-0 lead.
The two teams exchanged 3-0 runs in the middle of the set, the first coming from Frostburg's side that featured a kill from Godlove and a block from both Godlove and Corey-Bey, giving the Bobcats an 11-10 lead. The Knights answered with their own run of three-straight points, two of which came on kills from sophomore Alexandra Frank. After the Bobcats rallied to tie the score at 15-all, Geneseo scored eight of the next nine points to give them a commanding 23-16 lead. That final push led the Knights to a 25-17 set victory, clinching the match, 3-0.
Onyundo again had a double-double for FSU, as she dished out 20 assists and collected 12 digs.Tshitenge led the Bobcats with six kills, adding to her a team-high 276 kills on the season as the regular season comes to a close.
Frostburg finishes the regular season with an 11-22 record, 2-5 in conference play. The Bobcats are locked into the sixth seed of the CAC playoffs and will travel to #3 York (Pa.) on Tuesday, October 30 for the quarterfinals round of the CAC Tournament.
