Recap: Team Abercrombie Breaks Away in Third Set for 71-54 Victory

When the dust settled, it was Team Abercrombie enjoying the success of a perfect week after dispatching Team De La Cruz-Mejía by a 71-54 margin to close the Week Two schedule.

The victory allowed Team Abercrombie to complete a sweep of its three matches, while Team De La Cruz-Mejía slipped to 2-1.

Opposite Brittany Abercrombie put the finishing touches on an outstanding Week Two performance, tallying 16 kills with a .484 hitting performance and 13 digs en route to MVP 1 distinction and 386 leaderboard points.

Outside hitter Dani Drews followed with an MVP 2 effort and 325 leaderboard points after registering 11 kills and 12 digs for her third double-double of the season.

Setter Sydney Hilley closed out the Match MVP sweep by dishing out 31 assists with nine digs to garner MVP 3 laurels and 244 leaderboard points.

Team De La Cruz-Mejía was paced by outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía’s 17 kills and nine digs, while opposite Willow Johnson chipped in 11 kills with five digs. Setter Natalia Valentin-Anderson authored her league-leading sixth double-double of the season with 36 assists and 14 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Team Abercrombie surged to the early advantage, using four kills from Drew and a .323 team hitting percentage to secure a 25-21 first set victory. But, Team De La Cruz-Mejía answered with a 25-21 victory in the middle frame to even the match score at 46-all.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Drews secured a seat in the captain’s chair for Week Three after rising into fourth place on the leaderboard with 1,383 points. Abercrombie and De La Cruz-Mejía will remain as captains in Week Three, but switch into the Gold and Orange jerseys, respectively.

MATCH NOTES

• Abercrombie and De La Cruz-Mejía squared off as opposing captains for the first time in their Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball careers.

• Team Abercrombie limited Team De La Cruz-Mejía to just eight points in the third and deciding set, marking the fewest points scored by a team in a single set in Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball history.

• The win allowed Abercrombie and outside hitter Paige Briggs-Romine to finish Week Two as the only players with a perfect 6-0 record … De La Cruz-Mejía, outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh, middle blocker Kayla Haneline and libero Manami Kojima had their five-match win streaks snapped.

• The loss snapped De La Cruz-Mejía’s six-match win streak as a team captain … She now stands 24-12 in her career as a team leader.

• Valentin-Anderson, the only player in the league with a double-double in all six matches, fashioned the 25th double-double of her Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball career … She also surpassed 30 assists in a match for the 31st time in her 36 career outings.

• De La Cruz-Mejía amassed 15 or more kills for the 22nd time in her Athletes Unlimited career, including her third instance this season.

• Abercrombie authored her third double-double in six matches this season … She also closed Week One with back-to-back double-double performances.

• Abercrombie also surpassed 1,000 leaderboard points for the week after notching her sixth straight match with 300 or more leaderboard points … She closed Week Two with a league-best 1,013 points to move into first place in the league standings.

• Hilley posted 30 or more assists for the 18th time in her career, moving into sole possession of third place on the league’s all-time ledger … She has tallied 30 or more assists in five consecutive matches, including a pair of 40-assist outings to begin Week Two.

MATCH MVPS

• #1 – Brittany Abercrombie (Team Abercrombie, +60)
• #2 – Dani Drews (Team Abercrombie, +40)
• #3 – Sydney Hilley (Team Abercrombie, +20)