Drews and Peterson help Team Drews close out Week 3 sweep
DALLAS — Outside hitters Dani Drews and Jamie Peterson each registered 11 kills as Team Drews held off Team Sheilla to post a 73-67 victory in the Week Three finale for both teams at Fair Park Coliseum on Saturday evening.
Team Drews, which completed a sweep of its three matches in Week Three, earned the victory by set scores of 25-20, 23-25 and 25-22. Team Sheilla suffered its first loss and closed the week with a 2-1 record.
Drews, who holds the top spot on the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard, recorded her ninth consecutive double-digit kill performance while contributing 11 digs for her third double-double of the season. Peterson, meanwhile, reached double figures in kills for the first time this season and nearly finished with a double-double after adding nine digs.
Setter Natalia Valentin-Anderson recorded her fifth double-double of the year with 34 assists and 11 digs.
Team Sheilla was led by outside hitter Erin Fairs, who ended the match with 11 kills and 12 digs for her second double-double of the season. Team captain Sheilla Castro just missed a double-double with nine kills and a career-high 13 digs, while libero Hana Lishman chipped in 13 digs.
Setter Nootsara Tomkom authored her league-leading sixth double-double of the season after collecting 28 assists with 12 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Team Drews took the opening set by a 25-20 count as Drews and Peterson combined for nine of the team’s 14 kills. Team Sheilla answered in the second set with four kills apiece from Fairs and Sheilla to take the set by a 25-23 count, which reduced the overall margin to 48-45. But, Team Drews sealed the decision with a 25-22 triumph in the final set.
MATCH NOTES
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Drews remains the only athlete in the league to register 10 or more kills in all nine matches this season.
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Valentin-Anderson posted 30 or more assists for the league-leading eighth time this year … She has also tallied at least 20 assists in all nine of her appearances.
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Tomkom also reached the 20-assist plateau for the ninth consecutive match.
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Middle blocker Ronika Stone became the second athlete this season to register five or more blocks in a match after her five rejections against Team Sheilla … It is the third time an athlete has finished a match with five or more blocks this season.
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Stone became the 24th athlete this season to earn a match MVP award this season.
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Libero Morgan Hentz, who finished with a match-high 14 digs, has been named as a match MVP in each of her last three outings, including a pair of MVP 2 commendations.
MATCH MVPS
- #1 – Ronika Stone (Team Drews, +60)
- #2 – Morgan Hentz (Team Drews, +40)
- #3 – Sheilla Castro (Team Castro, +20)
POINT-EARNERS
Team Drews secured 140 of the 180 possible win points after winning two of the three sets along with the match victory. Stone led all athletes with a season-high 331 leaderboard points after earning MVP 1 honors for the first time this season. Hentz followed with 275 points while outside hitter Cassidy Lichtman tallied 223 points after posting five kills and 12 digs. Fairs paced Team Sheilla with 152 points in the loss.
