Moving on! Balanced effort leads volleyball into AAC quarterfinals

KINGSPORT, Tenn. - Ninth-seeded Union made a furious rally to win the first set and never let up, earning a 25-18, 25-20, 25-23 sweep over No. 8 Point in the opening round of the Appalachian Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament Thursday.

The Bulldogs fell into a 16-10 hole in the opening set, but managed to catch fire. Behind the serve of Maddy McGaughey, Union rattled off 12 consecutive points. Raquel Kessler had a kill and two blocks to start the rally before Madison Jennings punctuated it with three kills in the span of four points.

Balance was the name of the game in the opener as Kessler, Jennings, Emily Shumaker and Alison Smith all had three kills, while Jordan Kusan and Haleigh Reisser both had five assists.

The Bulldogs took advantage of sloppy Point play in the second set, taking a 13-10 lead by virtue of a 5-0 run, where four points came off Skyhawk errors.

Union looked to have a sweep in hand with a 23-19 lead in the fourth set, only to see a string of its own errors allow Point to score four straight to tie the score at 23. But off a time out, the Bulldogs regrouped to put the opening-round matchup away.

Kusan, who had a team-best 20 assists, made a head's up play by tapping a no-look attack into an open spot for a kill to make it 24-23. The Bulldogs then relied on their All-AAC outside hitter to put the game away, as Kessler blasted home the winning point of a perfect pass from Reisser.

Kessler finished the match with 15 kills, 11 digs and a .333 hitting percentage. McGaughey and Mikayla Phillips each added 15 digs in the win.

Union gets very little time to rest, as Friday brings about an 11 a.m. showdown with top-seed Columbia International, the No. 22 team in the country. The Rams defeated the Bulldogs in three sets in Barbourville in September.