Volleyball Begins Association Play With Two Victories

Sept. 30 - (ATLANTA, Georgia) - Carnegie Mellon’s volleyball opened University Athletic Association (UAA) play this weekend with wins in two of three matches to even their overall record at 9-9.

The Tartans began the round robin tournament with the tall order of facing 13th ranked Emory University in their Friday Night match.

A 30-27 victory in the opening set got Carnegie Mellon off to a great start but the Eagles came back to grab the next three sets (29-31, 30-26, 30-26) and win the match.

A solid performance defensive output helped keep all four sets with Emory very close. 29 digs by senior libero Kat Fox (Oklahoma City, Okla./Casady) and 21 by senior outside hitter Amanda Bradford (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) paced the Tartans effort.

“ I think we played very well,” Head Coach Kim Kelly said. “Defensively it was our best outing. On offense we could have made adjustments but our defense kept us in the match.”

Three Tartans posted double digits kills, 14 by senior right side Catie Fisher (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield). Bradford and junior middle hitter Abbie Toney (Des Moines, Iowa/Johnston) each posted 11 kills in the 3-1 loss. Senior setter Brea Carlock (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day) produced 24 assists while freshman setter Samantha Carter (San Antonio, Texas/O'Connor) recorded 12 assists and four service aces.

On Saturday, Carnegie Mellon battled Rochester and after dropping the first two sets (30-28, 30-28) to find themselves in a huge deficit, the Tartans staged a terrific recovery.

The rally started with a 30-11 thrashing of the Yellow Jackets followed by a 30-23 victory in the next set to force a decisive fifth set. Carnegie Mellon won the final set 15-11 to grab their first UAA victory of the 2006 season. Bradford had another remarkable performance, pounding out 14 kills and 24 digs while teammate Malena Yablinsky (Patton, Pa./Cambria Heights) led the squad with 18 kills. Carlock again created scores from the setter position with 48 assists.

Riding the wave of momentum from the victory over Rochester, the Tartans swept Brandeis in their second match on Saturday to grab their ninth win of the season. Another strong defensive effort, highlighted by Bradford’s 14 digs and nine more by Fox, gave the Tartans victories of 30-21, 30-22 and 30-16. Carlock (20 assists) and Carter (18) again guided the scoring attack while Fisher and Bradford contributed to the offense with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.

“ The team was able to comeback after a tough loss,” said Kelly. “We got two solid victories this afternoon.”

The Tartans will look to add to their winning streak next weekend when they host five regional schools in the Carnegie Mellon Invitational October 6-7.