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Volleyball shuts down future rival in straight sets
By Blair Hooper
MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. -- Shorter University
won its third consecutive match to open the 2011 season Saturday
morning at the Milligan Mountain Madness Invitational, shutting
down Union University (Tenn.) in three sets, 25-21, 25-14,
25-21.
The Lady Hawks had been 0-2 all-time against the Bulldogs, but
made quick work of next year's NCAA Division II rival — Union
has also been accepted into the NCAA Division II membership process
and will become a member of the Gulf South Conference.
Freshman Jasmine
Crook led Shorter with 12 kills, junior Tanequa Whitman had 11
digs and junior Loren
Olive aided the effort with 10 kills and seven digs.
Shorter went toe-to-toe with Union in set one before cruising to a
win in set two and closing out the match with a comfortable win in
set three.
Both teams traded points in the first set until the Lady Hawks
began to pull away and take an 18-14 lead with the help of several
Bulldog errors paired with kills from Crook, Jessica Cooper and Tori Bradley. The
Lady Hawks eventually pulled out the 25-21 win to take a 1-0 lead
in the match.
Set two proved to be an easier task for Shorter as the Lady Hawks
rallied together for a wave of kills coming from Bradley, Cooper,
Crook, Olive and Leslie Welch. Union tried
to counter, but the Lady Hawks took set two 25-14.
Set three was another race to the end with Shorter outlasting
Union 25-21. The Lady Hawks took an early 18-6 lead, but Union
pieced together a comeback attempt with several big kills and the
help of Shorter attacking errors to bring the score to 20-18. The
Lady Hawks quickly retaliated, however, with kills from Bradley,
Cooper, Crook and Olive. A kill by Crook and an assist by Jordan Corder polished
off the Bulldogs and improved the Lady Hawks to 3-0.
Jordan Corder finished with 36 assists for Shorter. The Lady Hawks
hit .407 as a team with 50 kills against just 13 attacking
errors.
Shorter will close out the Milligan Mountain Madness Invitational
at 3 pm against Freed Hardeman, which received votes in the NAIA
Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll.
