Aug. 25, 2006
Final Stats
The Siena volleyball team opened its 2006 season Friday morning with a three-set loss (30-21, 30-25, 30-27) to #18 Arizona in the first round of the Four Points Sheraton Arizona Invitational at McKale Center. Christie Gustafson led the Saints with 12 kills, while sophomore setter April London had eight service aces and 26 assists.
Arizona hit .250 on the match, compared to the .048 of the Saints. The Wildcats also out-blocked Siena 17-2. Both teams notched 37 kills.
London, the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year registered a career-high with the eight service aces and also killed three of her four attacks. Gustafson killed 12 of her 27 attacks (.185) on the outside. Freshman Burgandy McCurty had a strong opener, starting all three games in the middle. McCurty killed 10 of 23 attacks (.174).
Freshman Whitney Dosty led Arizona with 12 kills, followed by sophomore Brooke Buringrud with 10. Junior Dominique Lamb led all players with a career-high 11 blocks. Senior Stephanie Butkus finished with 22 assists, a team-high seven digs and six blocks.
Arizona jumped out to a 13-2 lead in game one, but Siena later rattled off five straight points to make it a five-point game (16-11). That was as close as the Saints would get, as the Wildcats went on to win by nine, 30-21. Arizona hit .440 on the game, compared to the .091 of Siena, and out-blocked the Saints 5-1. Buringrud led Arizona with five kills, followed by Dosty with four.
The Wildcats led by six (11-5) early in game two, but Siena used a 5-0 run to cut it to one (12-11) and later tied it at 17. From there, Arizona went on a 10-3 run and went on to win 30-25. The Wildcats hit .233 on the game and again held the Saints to .091. Dosty had five kills to pace Arizona.
Arizona trailed early in game three, but used an 8-2 run to take a 14-8 lead. Siena responded with five straight points to make it a one-point game (14-13). From there, both teams played closely until Siena went on a 7-2 run to take a 25-20 lead. The Wildcats then rattled off six straight points to take the lead back, 26-25. Arizona went on to win 30-27.
Siena will take on San Francisco at 10 a.m. tomorrow and Northern Colorado at 4:30 p.m. in the final day of competition.
