Recap: Edmond expands lead to 294 points with victory against Team Hentz

Team Edmond upped its record to 2-0 in the final week of the season, while Team Hentz fell to 0-2.

Valentin-Anderson garnered MVP 1 honors after notching 40 assists with 12 digs, giving her 340 leaderboard points. Edmond, meanwhile, received MVP 3 distinction following an 11-kill, 10-dig performance that gave her 275 leaderboard points.

Middle blocker Kaz Brown completed the MVP trio for the winning side after chipping in nine kills with two blocks and two digs, finishing with 266 leaderboard points.

Team Hentz was led by a match-high 17 kills from outside hitter Claire Chaussee, while outside hitter Yossiana Pressley chipped in 10 kills and six digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Team Edmond used six kills from its captain to claim the early match lead with a 25-15 verdict in the opening set. Team Edmond extended the advantage to 50-32 by securing the middle frame with a 25-17 result. Team Hentz avoided a sweep by fashioning a 25-19 triumph in the final set.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Edmond will carry a 294-point advantage over outside hitter Alli Linnehan into the final match of the season on Monday night when the two team captains face each other to close the season. Valentin-Anderson, meanwhile, moved into fifth place on the leaderboard with her season-high point output.

MATCH NOTES

• Team Hentz and Team Edmond combined to register six service aces in the second match of Sunday’s doubleheader, elevating the league’s season total to 144 aces through 28 matches … Aspiration is committed to planting 10 trees for every ace this season as part of its ‘Aspiration Aces’ initiative.

• Sunday marked the fourth time Hentz and Edmond have faced each other as opposing captains … Hentz won the meetings in Week Two and Week Three, while Edmond secured a 70-63 verdict to wrap up Week Four.

• Edmond joined outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz as the only players in Athletes Unlimited Volleyball history to accumulate 500 career kills with her eighth kill of the match, which gave Team Edmond a 23-17 lead in the second set.

• Edmond also became the fifth player in league history to reach 200 kills in a single season … With her 11 kills in Sunday’s victory, she now has a league-high 209 kills.

• Edmond, the only player in the league with 10 or more kills in every match this season, ran her streak of consecutive 10-kill performances to 19 in a row.

• Hentz set a new Athletes Unlimited Volleyball record by securing her 31st set win of the season, eclipsing the previous standard set by opposite Erica Wilson and middle blocker Molly Lohman during the inaugural 2021 campaign.

• Brown matched the Athletes Unlimited Volleyball single-season record by recording her 32nd and 33rd solo blocks of the campaign … She shares the top spot on the single-season ledger with Lauren Gibbemeyer (2021) and Ali Bastianelli (2022).

• Hentz, the only player in the league with 10 or more digs in all 14 matches this season, will enter the season finale with a streak of 25 consecutive double-digit dig efforts … Hentz, who ranks second on the league’s all-time digs list, has posted 10 or more digs in 28-of-29 career matches.

• Valentin-Anderson authored the 18th double-double of her Athletes Unlimited career, including her seventh this season, after finishing with 40 assists and 12 digs … She also posted her league-record ninth career match with 40 or more assists.

• Libero Kendall White has tallied 10 or more digs in four of her last five contests after collecting 12 digs in Team Edmond’s victory on Sunday night … She now has 11 double-digit dig performances.

• Chaussee has authored 10 or more kills in four of her last five matches, giving her 11 double-digit kill performances this season.

• Pressley has 10 or more kills in five of her last seven outings.

MATCH MVPS

• #1 – Natalia Valentin-Anderson (Team Edmond, +60)
• #2 – Kaz Brown (Team Edmond, +40)
• #3 – Leah Edmond (Team Edmond, +20)