BLUEFIELD - In its return to action after more than a month, women's volleyball ran to a 3-1 win over the Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs 25-18, 18-25, 29-27, 25-14, Saturday afternoon at the Dome Gymnasium.
The Rams' last game was on Sept. 19, a victory at Point. The team was then sidelined for 35 days due to COVID-19 quarantines and isolations. The return to the court, was stellar as the Rams wasted little time in jumping on the visiting Bulldogs. BC went ahead 2-0, later 4-1 and back-to-back service aces by Morgan Coulter put the Rams ahead 9-5. The largest lead of the opening set was seven points. The set point came on another Coulter ace, making the final 25-18.
TWU led throughout the second set, leading by three on several occasions with the Rams tying the set at five, seven and for the last time at 13. The Bulldogs evened the match with a 25-18 win.
The Rams rolled out to an 11-3 lead in the third set and eventually pushed it to 14-3 after a Wesleyan timeout. The Bulldogs had some substance in their bark and slowly fought back and tied the match at 24 and took the lead 25-24. The Rams rallied and eeked out a 29-27 win in set three.
The fourth and final set saw the Rams score five unanswered points to take a 9-5 lead. The lead grew to seven and eventually 10 at 23-13. The match and game ended on an Aubri Whatcott kill that made it 25-14.
Aces were flying for the Rams as Coulter and Sophia Sansone each finished with five and Whatcott added three. Whatcott had a match-high 35 assists, while Claire Fingerlin had 13 digs. Leslie Flores and Sansone had 10 digs apiece. Jessica Wells led the way with 14 kills and Flores had 12.
Rams head coach Buddy Gallemore talked about the team's layoff and their performance in the first home match of the season.
"We are all glad to be back on the court. We are tired of seeing each other in practice. It's great to play somebody else," Gallemore said.
"I think our hustle, our fire and desire on the floor kind of pushed through. The biggest place we got them was in serve. We sered the ball really well, except for the second set. I'm just glad we did well and are back on the court."