Eagles Slam Kentucky State, Spalding

WILMORE, Ky. – Asbury’s volleyball team continued to roll on Thursday night by sweeping Kentucky State 3-0 (25-16, 26-23, 25-14) and Spalding 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-17) to move to 6-1 at home this season.

Asbury (25-4) is tied for the fourth most wins in the NAIA this year.  Senior middle blocker Lindsay Ibold moved into fifth place all-time in school history with 1,040 kills after collecting nine against KSU and eight against Spalding.  Ibold had only one error in the two matches combined.  Ibold sits 77 kills behind Bron Arvilla (1992-95) for fourth place on the all-time list.  The Eagles hit .246 in game one and followed it up with a .329 attack against the Golden Eagles.

Junior Brittney Rader racked up a season-high 14 kills in the match against Spalding, and had no errors in 19 attacks.  Asbury had 41 kills in each match on the night.  Senior Dena Busse added nine and seven kills on the night as the Eagles never struggled in either match. 

Sophomore Mackenzie Burke added 17 assists in each match and freshman Jessie Bartlow totaled 26 on the day.  Sophomore Kelly Cole dug 25 balls on the night as the Eagles didn’t need their defense as KSU hit only .073 and Spalding hit negative .034. 

The Eagles matched a season high with their 12th straight win as they head into a pivotal match against Indiana East on Saturday at 12 p.m.  The winner takes the outright lead in the KIAC and stays undefeated.  Indiana East also has 25 wins on the season as the match will be the first to pit teams with at least 25 wins against each other this season in the NAIA.

Asbury will also play Berea on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Berea will match-up with IUE at 2 p.m. in the Eagles’ lone tri-match of the season.