Laura Cantrell returns the ball against UAB. Photo by Ben Robson
Charlotte Falls to Marshall for the Second Time this Season
Charlotte (13-13, 2-7 C-USA) traveled to West Virginia on Sunday to take on Marshall (10-14, 4-4) for the second time in less than four weeks.
The 49ers looked to redeem themselves after losing in five sets to Marshall back on Sept. 23. Their efforts fell short, however, as Charlotte made one too many mental mistakes on their way to a 2-3 loss to the Thundering Herd.
Charlotte got off to a crawling start, falling behind 13-5 in the first set. They were unable to get within shouting distance, and Marshall walked away in the first set with ease, 25-15.
Freshman Marshae Bradbury and senior Britney Leigh Held carried the 49ers in the second set with a combined five points, including three straight by Held to finish the set 25-18. Charlotte would score seven of the final eight points in the second set.
Charlotte could not take advantage of an impressive second set and faltered in the third, despite jumping out to a 14-9 lead. Irem Asci would provide three additional kills in this set, single handily forcing Marshall to use two of their timeouts. The timeouts proved to be helpful in Marshall’s comeback attempt, however, as they rattled off five consecutive points to dwindle Charlotte’s lead
The 49ers could not seem to keep beating themselves as back to back service errors doomed a once promising set. Marshall would eventually pull out a close one, 25-23.
Trailing 2-1 in the fourth, Marshall would capitalize in a nail-biting set and even the score 2-2. Charlotte was unable to take advantage of the momentum created by one of their best set comebacks of the season. After falling down 24-22 in the fourth set, Asci delivered three straight points to give Charlotte the set point 26-24.
In the fifth and final set, Asci put the Charlotte squad on her back and delivered three kills to give the 49ers an early 7-5 lead. There were several errors on both sides of the net in the fifth set, but Marshall was able to survive and take the set 15-12.
Head coach Gokhan Yilmaz talked about the performance, saying that his team just needs to perform better all-around.
“Marshall just made more plays than us in the fifth after we were tied 10-10”, said Coach Yilmaz. “We will have to be better and start these matches with more intensity.”
Charlotte has dropped six of their last seven, and will look to get on the right side of the win-loss column this coming Friday when they host Louisiana Tech at 7:00 p.m.
The Friday and Sunday matches will be a part of Homecoming Weekend.