Women's Volleyball 11/19/2015 4:39:00 PM Derrick Blyberg, Sports Information Director

Urbana's Late-Season Run Comes to an End at MEC Tournament

First season under Tim Balice goes down as a success

Box Score WHEELING, W. Va. – Seventh-seeded Urbana led No. 2 Fairmont State in each set of their MEC Quarterfinal match on Thursday, but the Blue Knights couldn't hold on and fell in four sets. The loss ends a successful first year for head coach Tim Balice, whose team finished the regular season with three straight wins.

The Fighting Falcons (24-7) took the first two sets on Thursday, 25-20 and 25-22, before the Blue Knights answered with a gritty 25-21 win. UU led 18-14 in the fourth set, but ended up falling 25-21.

Katlynn Dunlap registered a match-high 17 kills and gathered 11 digs for the only Blue Knight double-double. Madison Davis produced 15 kills, including seven in the UU third-set victory, while Aleese Butler and Megan Verhoff both recorded 10 kills.

In what ended up as her final match, setter Mary Hendricks handed out 51 assists and wraps her career with a program record 3,534 assists.

Defensively, Maia Dunlap and Brianna Burkhalter were both solid with 15 and 10 digs, respectively.

UU fell victim to 26 attack errors and hit .199 as a team, with four service aces. FSU had 16 attack errors and hit .310 overall.

Urbana (13-17) led 12-10 in the opening set after a Fairmont State attack error, but couldn't pull away as the two teams stayed within two points of each other, leading to a 17-17 tie. The Fighting Falcons then rattled off an 8-3 run to win the first set.

In the second set, UU jumped out to another early lead when it went ahead 9-6 on a Hendricks ace. That forced a Falcon timeout, but Fairmont State came out and tied it after the break at 9-9. UU followed with its own 3-0 spurt, to go back up by three at 12-9, but that was UU's largest lead as the Falcons forced a 15-15 tie, and then led the rest of the way to go up 2-0 on the Blue Knights.

With their backs against the wall, the Blue Knights responded nicely to stay alive with a third-set victory. UU led 14-11, and then moved ahead by four points when it led 16-12. Fairmont tried to battle back and got within one point at 17-16, but UU kept calm and moved back ahead 20-16 before cruising the rest of the set.

In the fourth set, the two teams were even near the midway point with the score 10-10. UU then grabbed another 14-11 lead, and moved ahead by four points at 18-14 on a Dunlap kill. That point proved to be the last kill for Urbana, as the Falcons responded with a 4-0 run, and tied it 18-18 after a UU timeout.

Fairmont allowed UU to stick around with a few errors, as the two teams traded the next six points to remain tied at 21-21.

But the Falcons proved too much and finished of the match with four straight points.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Mary Hendricks: S/DS; 5' 7"; Senior

#8 Aleese Butler: MH/RS; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#9 Brianna Burkhalter: DS; 5' 4"; Sophomore

#14 Madison Davis: OH/MH; 5' 10"; Freshman

#15 Maia Dunlap: DS; 5' 5"; Sophomore

#16 Megan Verhoff: RS/MH; 5' 11"; Senior

#20 Katlynn Dunlap: OH; 5' 9"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#2 Mary Hendricks
: 5' 7"; Senior
: S/DS

#8 Aleese Butler
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: MH/RS

#9 Brianna Burkhalter
: 5' 4"; Sophomore
: DS

#14 Madison Davis
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: OH/MH

#15 Maia Dunlap
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: DS

#16 Megan Verhoff
: 5' 11"; Senior
: RS/MH

#20 Katlynn Dunlap
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: OH