Ashland 3, Parkside 0 | 25-16, 25-16, 34-32
After Ashland was able to take the first two sets, the Parkside volleyball team battled back for a thrilling third set that finished at 34-32, but unfortunately Ashland came out victorious in the end. Junior Jazmine Neal finished with a career-high 17 kills for the Rangers, who fell to 0-3 on the season while the Eagles moved to 3-0.
 
HEAR FROM COACH BAREA
"I'm really proud of how we battled throughout the whole match tonight," third year head coach Leigh Barea said. "We need to find a way to match the intensity that we had in set three and carry that through the whole match."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the first set, Ashland pulled away using a 13-0 run and cruised to a 25-16 win. In the second set, Ashland used a 7-2 run early on to take a 12-8 lead. Parkside pulled back into the set, bringing it to 13-11, but Ashland finished scoring 12 of the final 17 points.
 
The third set was much different as Ashland jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Parkside battled back and tied it at 11-11. The teams went back-and-forth for much of the way, until Parkside had set-point at 24-22, but Ashland climbed back in and scored three straight to take a 25-24 lead. Neither team could get that final point, until Ashland got a kill and Parkside ended the match with an attack error.
 
STATWORTHY
Neal finished with a .500 hitting percentage, going for her career-high 17 kills on 30 attacks. Sophomore Reese Rossnagel finished with nine kills while senior Maleia Ysteboe had career-highs in kills (8) and digs (12). Senior Rachel Hedman led the team in digs with 15 while Alysha Brickl had a season-high 34 assists.
 
As a team, Parkside hit .172 with 48 kills and 22 errors while Ashland hit .241 with 47 kills and 14 errors. Ashland had two aces while Parkside had one, and Ashland had five blocks to Parkside's two.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside will face Ashland once more to close out the weekend on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. on HARIBO Court inside De Simone Gymnasium. The Rangers will travel to face Northern Michigan in Marquette, Mich., next weekend.