Flagstaff, Arizona – The Old Dominion volleyball team kicked off the 2022 season with a 3-0 setback against Michigan and Utah Tech at the Northern Arizona Invitational on Friday, August 26. North Arizona will host his two-day tournament at the Rolle Activities Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
‘Tough day of competition for us,’ said head coach Fred Chao“We led a great first set against Michigan, but it went away from us. We’re not playing at our level yet and we’re trying to get back on track.” It seems out of place and margins against these teams force us into a chain of physical and mental errors. While there may be external reasons we can point to, we Look inward and use your energy to organize what you can control. It’s uncomfortable to struggle like this, but you learn from it.
Michigan 3, ODU 0
Maia Conway led the Monarchs (0-2) offense in the first game of the day against Michigan. A right-field hitter from Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, he had 11 kills in 26 attempts and achieved a .231 batting average. Kira Smith He was right behind Conway with nine kills, but Teresa Atilano Recorded 21 assists and two service aces. in defense, Hayley Duncan and Conway are combined in five blocks, Anna Burckhardt Recorded a double-digit dig at 14.
The Wolverines (1-0) took a 5-2 lead in the first set, but Attilano assisted Conway and Burkhardt served an ace to keep ODU tied 5-5. Michigan looked to pull away as four unanswered points gave the Wolverines a 15-10 lead, but Monarch refused to leave. and set up to kill Duncan before Duncan stuffs Wolverine’s attack attempt. Atilano then served with his ace to close the gap to 15-14. Smith then helped ODU seize control with his 20-18 kills, but his 5-1 win over the stretch saw the Wolverines hold on to his 25-23 to regain the lead. I was able to.
Michigan set the tone early in the second set, building a 5-1 lead before pushing it to 14-7. His 3-0 push in the closing stages allowed the Monarchs to come within 22-17 of him, but a 25-17 decision put the Wolverines ahead of him 2-0. In the final set, Michigan scored his sixth straight point and never looked back as he advanced to the final 25-14 to close out the match.
Utah Tech 3, ODU 0
Conway and Bailey Burgess ODU lost to Utah Tech with 8 and 5 kills respectively. Atilano has two aces and he has 12 assists Ashlyn Belcher Then 9 assists. On the other side of the net, Burgess made his four blocks, with Atilano right behind him three. Burkhardt paced back row with his eight digs, followed by Belcher and Atilano with six digs each. Tessa Matty and Conway both dug a total of five times.
The Trailblazers (2-0) came out quick with a 13-3 lead in the first set. Three straight blocks highlighted his ODU response of 5-0, but the Monarchs can’t get any closer as Utah Tech grabbed the set with his 25-14 score was. ODU took the second set close as Burgess cleared the ball from Belcher to cut Utah Tech’s lead to 16-13. But then the Trailblazers took him off with a 5-0 push to win the set 25-16.
ODU remained competitive throughout the third set. After digging 8-4 holes, the Monarchs fought back and he tied the set at 9-9 thanks to back-to-back Aces from Atilano. Utah Tech reversed his 17-13 run, but ODU scored his next three points and stayed well-deserved the rest of the way. Unfortunately, the Trailblazers closed out the match with his 25-22 set victory.
“Tomorrow we will focus on more effective attacks, gaining more points and making fewer mistakes,” Chao added.
Old Dominion will conclude the tournament with a meeting with hosts Northern Arizona on Saturday at 5pm ET. Live stats will be available and the match will be streamed on ESPN+.
