Flagstaff, Ariz. – The Old Dominion volleyball team opened the 2022 season on Friday, August 26, with 3-0 losses to Michigan and Utah Tech at the Northern Arizona Invitational. Northern Arizona is hosting the two-day tournament at the Roll Action Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
“Strong competition day for us,” said the head coach Fred Chao. “We had a good first lead against Michigan, but it got away from us. We’re not playing at our level yet and we’re working to get in line. Every facet of our game seems to be off and the difference against these teams is forcing us. In a string of physical and mental mistakes… we can point to them. Although there may be external factors, we spend our energy looking inward and identifying what we can control. It is not comfortable to struggle in this way, but we learn from it.
Michigan 3, ODU 0
Maya Conway He led the offense for the Kings (0-2) in the first matchup of the day against Michigan. The right-handed hitter from Orwigsburg, Pa. finished with 11 kills on 26 attempts, swinging for a .231 hitting percentage. Kira Smith It was close to nine murders in Conway, while Teresa Atilano Contributed 21 assists and two service aces. in defense, Hayley Duncan and Conway combined for five blocks and Anna Burkhardt Recorded double-digit digs with 14.
The Wolverines (1-0) jumped out to a 5-2 advantage in the opening set, but Atilano Conway assisted and Burkhardt served an ace to help ODU pull even at 5-5. Four unanswered points gave the Wolverines a 15-10 lead and Michigan looked to pull away, but the Monarchs refused to quit. Following a Michigan service error, Atilano set up Conway and Duncan to kill Duncan before charging Wolverine’s attack attempt. Atilano then dropped in an AC to close the gap at 15-14. Smith then helped ODU take control from the field with a 20-18 kill, but a 5-1 swing allowed the Wolverines to retake the lead at 25-23.
Michigan put two early as they built a 5-1 lead and later pushed it to 14-7. A late 3-0 push helped the Monarchs get within 22-17, but the Wolverines’ 2-0 lead ended in a 25-17 decision. In the final set, Michigan scored six straight points and never looked back en route to a 25-14 run to close out the match.
Utah Tech 3, ODU 0
Conway and Bailey Burgess ODU had eight and five kills in its loss to Utah Tech. Atilano chipped in 12 assists with two aces, and Ashlyn Belcher He followed with nine assists. On the other side of the net, Burgess made Atilano three blocks behind her. Burkhardt paced the back row with eight digs, followed by Belcher and Atilano with six each, and Tessa Matthias and Conway both totaled five digs.
The Trailblazers (2-0) jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the opening set. Three straight blocks highlighted a 5-0 ODU response, but the Monarchs couldn’t get any closer as Utah Tech took the set 25-14. ODU closed out the second set on a Burgess layup from Belcher to cut Utah Tech’s lead to 16-13. However, the Trailblazers went on a 5-0 run to win the contest 25-16.
ODU remained competitive in the third set. After digging themselves into an 8-4 hole, the Monarchs rallied to tie the set at 9-9 thanks to back-to-back aces from Atilano. Utah Tech pulled back to within 17-13, but ODU scored the next three points and stayed within striking distance the rest of the way. Unfortunately, the Trail Blazers won the game by a score of 25-22.
“Tomorrow will focus on being effective offensively, working to increase our points and minimize our mistakes,” Chao added.
Old Dominion wraps up the tournament against host Northern Arizona on Saturday at 5 pm EST. Live stats will be available, and the match will be streamed on ESPN+.
