Recap: Team Hentz dominates against Team Edmond, 75-47

Team Hentz used a strong defense and even better offensive effort to hand Team Edmond a 75-47 setback to complete the Week Three schedule. The win allowed Team Hentz to post another perfect 3-0 record, while Team Edmond closed the week with a 2-1 mark.

Middle blocker Molly McCage continued her strong play over the last two weeks with an MVP 1 performance. The former Texas standout racked up an Athletes Unlimited career-high 14 kills on 17 attempts without an error and added two blocks to secure a career-high 400 leaderboard points.

Outside hitter Alli Linnehan added 14 kills of her own without an error to go with six digs and three blocks, collecting MVP 2 distinction and 409 leaderboard points. Setter Nootsara Tomkom completed the Match MVP sweep with a double-double of 37 assists and 10 digs, giving her 271 leaderboard points.

Team Edmond captain Leah Edmond authored her league-leading sixth double-double in the loss, closing with a match-high 16 kills and 13 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Team Hentz limited Team Edmond to a -.027 hitting percentage and used five kills from Vander Weide to earn a 25-14 victory in the opening set. Linnehan added eight kills in the middle frame as Team Hentz blitzed Team Edmond for a 25-11 set triumph and commanding 50-25 match advantage.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Edmond and Hentz remain at the top of the leaderboard despite the one-sided result on Monday night, but Hentz trails by just 197 points heading into Week Four’s action. Hilley will also remain as a captain for the third straight week, including her second stint guiding the Purple team, while Linnehan returns to the captain’s chair for the second time in three weeks.

MATCH NOTES

• Team Hentz and Team Edmond combined to tally three service aces in Monday’s Week Three finale, driving the league’s season total to 93 aces through 18 matches … Aspiration is committed to planting 10 trees for every service ace this season as part of its ‘Aspiration Aces’ initiative.

• Team Hentz posted the eighth win points sweep of the season, including its fourth as a team in the last two weeks … There have now been 24 win points sweeps in Athletes Unlimited Volleyball’s three-year history.

• Team Hentz established a new Athletes Unlimited Volleyball record by owning a 25-point lead through two sets on Monday night … The previous standard was set on October 13, 2023, when Team Hentz held a 50-27 advantage over Team Linnehan.

• The 11 points surrendered by Team Hentz in the second set are tied for the second-lowest total in a single set in league history … It is the fifth time a team has allowed 11 or fewer points in a single set in league history.

• Team Hentz conceded just 47 points in its win over Team Edmond, marking the second-fewest points allowed by a team in league history … Team Edmond held Team Nootsara to 44 points in a win on October 9, 2023.

• Team Hentz’s 28-point margin of victory on Monday night is the second-highest mark in league history, trailing Team Edmond’s 75-44 triumph over Team Edmond two weeks ago.

• McCage authored an outstanding .824 hitting percentage in Monday’s victory with 14 kills and no errors on 17 attempts, eclipsing her own Athletes Unlimited single-match record for hitting percentage with at least 10 attempts … McCage established the single-match mark with a .786 success rate against Team Clark on February 27, 2021.

• McCage has posted at least nine kills in each of her last five matches … She also registered the eighth double-digit kill effort of her career.

• Linnehan has registered 10 or more kills four times this season, including the last three in a row.

• Linnehan and McCage each recorded 14 kills without a single error against Team Edmond, which is the second-highest kill total in a match without an error in league history.

• Edmond has notched 10 or more kills in 14 consecutive matches and stands as the only player in the league to post a double-digit kill effort in all nine matches.

• Outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weide posted her second double-digit kill effort of the season after closing play with 13 kills and a .270 hitting percentage.

• Libero Amanda Benson secured 12 digs in the loss for Team Edmond, marking the fifth time she has reached the 10-dig mark in the last seven matches.

• Libero Morgan Hentz, who remains the only player with a perfect match record this season, also upped her set record to 24-3 with the sweep over Team Edmond … She has also notched double-digit digs in 23-of-24 career matches, including the last 20 in a row.

• Tomkom earned the 13th double-double of her Athletes Unlimited career, including her fourth this season.

MATCH MVPS

• #1 – Molly McCage (Team Hentz, +60)
• #2 – Alli Linnehan (Team Hentz, +40)
• #3 – Nootsara Tomkom (Team Hentz, +20)