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Here's the first of the Atlantic Sun Conference semifinals, pitting fourth-seeded Florida Gulf Coast against the top seeds Jacksonville. The Dolphins are one of the more remarkable teams this season, with the best turnaround from last season in the conference and third-best in the nation. Last season, they won 10 matches. This season — so far — it's 27. I SWAG'd them at 9th place in my preseason look at this conference, so I'm just as surprised as anyone. Jacksonville swept this season series, winning a three-setter and a four-setter.
The tournament was held at Kennesaw State, who were the sixth seeds in the tournament (eliminated in the quarterfinals last night). So with the hosts no longer alive, it's understandable but nonetheless sad to see so many empty seats. A quiet night at the arena, despite a pretty important match.
The Dolphins started off on serve, and claimed the first two points before the Eagles could side out. The Eagles had to send over a lot of free balls in the early going, but Karina Mambuca squared them at 2-all with a nice solo block up the middle. An ace for Sammie Strausbaugh re-established JU's two-point advantage, but the Eagles came even again at 4-all. The Eagles claimed their first lead at 6-5 at the end of a long rally, and then a hitting error from Kylie Jacob, off a low set, made it 7-5 FGCU. That lead held up until 10-all, with Mambuca's hitting miscue tying things again. The lefty Emily Laskelle on the right side hit long to make it 11-10, but a nice little roll shot from Alyssa Robertson got the Dolphins level again on 11-all. They got their lead back at 13-12 when Jessica Barnes' block on the left side landed out of bounds.
A double touch on Gigi Meyer put the Dolphins ahead two at 14-12. That was then a very long rally, ending with a beautiful dig by Eagle libero Whitney Masters sailing over the net for what should have been an easy point for the Dolphins, but their middle blocker hit the ball into the net. Florida Gulf Coast then came even at 14-all. I expected a media timeout when the Dolphins sided out for 15-14, but it did not come. Who knows sometimes. The Eagles probably would have liked a timeout, as the Dolphins ran their advantage out to 17-14, the first three-point lead of the match. That prompted Florida Gulf Coast to call a charged timeout.
The Eagles got the sideout after the timeout, as Olivia Mesner hit into the block on the right side, which then hit the antenna. But a hitting error on the FGCU side and then an ace for Taylor Nyquist meant the Dolphins suddenly had a commanding 20-15 lead. That prompted the Eagles' second timeout.
Nyquist got her second straight ace straight after the timeout, giving the Dolphins a six-point lead. The Dolphins called their first timeout of the set when the Eagles scored the next two to crawl within 21-17. Continuing to feed the right side, the Eagles got the kill again after the timeout to draw within 21-18. They went back again on 21-18. The flagger called out no-touch, but the up referee overruled him to make it 21-19. Strausbaugh emphatically found the floor on the next rally to make it a three-point set, as the Dolphins neared 25. The Eagles kept on feeding the right side, this time Kaitlin Holm, and again got the kill.
She rotated back to serve after her sixth kill of the match. The Dolphins got a good pass off to the setter Kendall Courtney, who tried to dump the ball — and had it find only the net. Holm went back to serve again, and this time the pass was a lot dodgier, leading to an easily-dug hit. The Eagles' responding hit flew long, but again a touch was called. The Dolphins called their last timeout as their formerly six-point edge became nil.
The Dolphins got their sideout with a kill from Strausbaugh, hitting towards Holm. The latter appeared unsure of whether she wanted to actually play the ball or let it drop, and that tentativeness led to the ball rebounding off her and down. That rotated Courtney back to serve for the Dolphins, and she got her team's fourth ace of the set to bring about set point. The Dolphins put it away on serve right there, with a kill by Laskelle on the right side.
The Eagles started off set 2 with a really nice play, as the libero Masters put up a beautiful set for Marlene Moeller, who found the floor on a right-side cut shot. They added another with a kill off a tip at the net, but the Dolphins ran back and took the lead at 3-2. They extended to two for the first time in the set at 5-3 when Mambuca was whistled for a double hit. Their lead extended further to 6-3 and then 7-3 on a let-serve ace for Nyquist. She then missed her serve — the first service error of the night for Jacksonville — siding FGCU out on 7-4. Strausbaugh quickly sided the Dolphins out, hitting so powerfully that the ball went straight into the block and out of bounds on the other side. That's some power. The Eagles clawed a point back on 8-6 with a great double block by Mesner and Holm. The 8-6 rally then looked like it should have ended about four different times, two for each side, before Robertson finally terminated from the right side.
FGCU got back to within a point on 10-9, following a nice swing from Mesner. It looked like the Eagles came even on 10-all, as Jacksonville's hit obviously did not clear the net, but evidently a net fault was called on the other side as the point went to the Dolphins. They went on a little run there, extending to 14-10 after a bad Eagle pass went over the net for an easy kill for the Dolphin middle. FGCU called time there.
Another service ace for the Dolphins, their sixth, put them up 15-10. Holm got the Eagles their desperately-needed sideout on 15-11 with a kill from the right side, off another nice set from the libero Masters. Holm then rotated to serve, but she got just the one chance at it, the Dolphins siding right back out on 16-11. Strausbaugh powered through the block on the next rally, making it 17-11. A sly little tip from Strausbaugh made it 18-11, and the Eagles were all but forced to expend their last timeout.
The Eagles managed to sideout on 18-12, and then put the double block up against Jacob, Barnes and Mambuka making it 18-13. A let-serve ace for Masters, one for the Eagles this time, made it 18-14, and the Dolphins called time. Their run continued after the timeout, with Nyquist missing wide from the right side. Strausbaught then finally got her team the sideout with a tip to left-front for the kill. Libero Mayara Prestes, who had done a bang-up job defensively to that point so far, netted her one and only serve. Then Robertson hit wide to make it 19-17, the Eagles closing the gap again much like they did in set 1. But instead of closing the gap, Robertson found the floor to keep her team ahead 20-17. Strausbaugh again got a kill off the tip shot to make it a four-point set at 21-17. That was then a long rally, ending with a kill for Strausbaugh again to put the Dolphins ahead five with the end of the set looming.
A net fault sided on the Dolphins sided the Eagles out on 22-18, and then a big kill from the pipe for Holm got them back within three at 22-19. Strausbaugh then played another crafty shot, a two-handed overhand set (or so it looked) that fluttered to the floor for the kill. She rotated back to serve, and got one winner to bring about set point on 24-19. She went for it on serve on set point and had it land long, making it 24-20. The Eagles went to a blocking sub, Ashley Noble, for setter Gigi Meyer, and thet all trees came up with a nice double block to make it 24-21. Smartly, Jacksonville called time there, to evaluate their options against the big block.
The Dolphins quickly sealed it, getting a first-ball sideout for Nyquist to send us to the intermission with Jacksonville up 2-0.
Jacksonville started off set 3 with a 3-1 mini-run, fueled by kills from Strausbaugh, getting her out to 12 for the match. Seems like it should have been more than that. After the Eagles' sideout, a hitting error from Jacob made it 3-all. On the 3-all rally, the Eagles celebrated a kill off the touch — and then didn't get the call going their way. They protested, but nothing changed (nothing ever does). 5-4 Jacksonville was then a long rally, ending with a kill from the back row by Nyquist to get the Dolphins back ahead by two.
That advantage held up for a while, until the Eagles came even at 9-all. Mambuca and Mesner tossed up a nice double block, but it wasn't necessary as the Dolphin hit failed to clear the net. Masters went back to serve, and scored her second ace of the match to make it 10-9 Eagles. The Dolphins then sided out with a block-out kill to make it 10-all, but the Eagles responded with three in a row to take their first substantial lead of the night. They extended to four at 15-11, and prompted a timeout from the Jacksonville side.
Christine Pinder continued to serve after the timeout, and split the uprights between Nyquist and Rachel Miller on the other side for an ace. Then on 16-11, Strausbaugh just barely found the right-back corner for a sideout for Jacksonville. Courtney then rotated to serve, and got the ace right back to make it a three-point set at 16-13. The next rally was very long, with some good defence on both sides. It finally ended with Dolphin setter Courtney getting the kill on a two-handed underhand dump. Masters almost got the up, but her pass went to no one, and the ball fell in. 16-14 was also a pretty long rally, ending with a kill for Strausbaugh off a tip.
That prompted an Eagle timeout. The next rally, on 16-15, was again pretty long, but this time the Eagles managed to get the sideout. The 17-15 rally was another long one, ending with a flub swing from Holm on the Eagle side. It didn't clear the net and didn't come close. A strong serve from Strausbaugh looked to get the Eagles out of system, but the Dolphins failed to take advantage, with Pinder eventually getting Florida Gulf Coast their sideout. Holm re-established the three-point lead by finding the floor at 19-16. Moeller got the next kill to make it 20-16, and Jacksonville called their second timeout.
A hitting error off a cut shot attempt by Holm got the Dolphins their sideout. A nice kill from the lefty Gabriela Roman on the right side made it 20-18, and a long hit by Mambuca narrowed the lead to one again at 20-19. Holm hit straight into the middle double-block on the next rally, but she managed to get through it, making it 21-19. Roman got the kill for 21-20 and then rotated back to serve for the tie. It was another long rally, ending with a kill off the block and out for Moeller. A good serve from Masters at 22-20 led to an overpass/freeball for the Eagles, but they spoiled the opportunity by touching the net. And then on the next rally, the Dolphins gave the point back with a net fault of their own.
A kill for Strausbaugh made it 23-22, and then a big service ace by the libero Prestis made it 23-all. FGCU called their last timeout there. It looked like Courtney Greenberg got away with a double touch on her set on the next rally, but nothing was caled, and Holm found the floor to bring about set point. 24-23 was another pretty long rally, and it ended again with Holm extending the match to a fourth set.
The Dolphins started off set 4 with four of the first five points, Roman leading the way. Barnes staunched run, siding the Eagles out on 4-2. They ran it back to 5-4, claiming three of four themselves. That margin held up through sideout after sideout for a little while. The pattern broke on 8-6, after the ball pinballed around a little. The rally ended when Hol hit long making it 9-6. Strausbaugh added another service point with a devious little tip shot to right-back making it 10-6. The Eagles called timeout there.
The Dolphin lead made it up to five following another hitting error for Holm, for a score of 12-7. For one of the first times all night, Moeller was blocked, her slide attack to the right side not getting through. Nyquist then hit through the block and off the back row as well to get the Dolphins doubled up on the Eagles at 14-7. Roman hit into the block to get the Eagles their sideout on 14-8, but she then sided the Eagles' best server Masters out on one attempt, making it seven again.
That lead held up through another stretch of sideouts, obviously favouring the Dolphins. They got the next service point at 17-10, with a kill from the pipe for Nyquist off her own serve. That prompted Florida Gulf Coast's final timeout of the set (and, most assuredly, night….and season).
But the timeout also favoured the Dolphins, with Nyquist getting her sixth ace of the night to make it 19-10. She missed her next serve, but a 10:6 aces to errors ratio for the team is fantastic. The Eagles netted on the next rally to get Jacksonville to 20 first at 20-11. Florida Gulf Coast showed their last little gasp, running the score back to 21-14. Strausbaugh kept the score from coming any closer with another ridiculous little underhand two-hand "set" for a kill. It rode the net for a moment before falling in.
Inexorably, the Dolphins reached match point, at 24-15. Mambuca staved off one match point with a tip up the middle for a kill to make it 24-16, but the Dolphins sealed it on reception.
#1 Jacksonville d. #4 Florida Gulf Coast (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16)
The better team certainly won. Sammie Strausbaugh is a special player, one playing way above her scant 5-8 frame. It's not a surprise at all to know she was one of the top players in NCAA sand volleyball a season ago. She showed fine two-way skill and exceptional adaptability on offence. If she were six inches taller, I'd have no worries projecting her as a future pro. As is, it's a maybe.
Strausbaugh led all scorers with 20 kills, hitting .278 on 20/5/54. Moeller was tops for the Eagles with 17, followed closely by Holm's 16. Whereas FGCU hit about the same efficiency in all four sets, Jacksonville seriously stepped up their game in the 4th, with just two attacking errors in that frame. That'll get the job done.
The Dolphins now advance to tomorrow's tournament final. Regrettably, I won't be around to cover that one, as I'll not quite be home from work. I'll try to check out the end and livetweet it.
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