Sheilla records career-high 17 kills in Team De La Cruz victory
DALLAS — Opposite hitter Sheilla Castro set a career high with 17 kills and added nine digs as Team De La Cruz overcame a first set loss to defeat Team Drews, 68-57, to close Week Two of the 2022 Athletes Unlimited Volleyball season at Fair Park Coliseum on Saturday night.
Team De La Cruz, which ran its record on the week to 2-1, claimed the victory by set scores of 18-25, 25-9 and 25-23. Team Drews, meanwhile, finishes the week with a 1-2 mark with its second consecutive defeat.
Sheilla, who authored her third double-digit kill performance of the season, led all athletes with her 17 kills while hitting .412 in the win. Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz joined Sheilla in double figures with 12 kills and nine digs, while setter Nootsara Tomkom pitched in 36 assists.
Outside hitter Dani Drews captained her team in the loss with 15 kills and two blocks, while outside hitter Jamie Peterson and opposite hitter Sha’Dare McNeal each contributed six kills.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Team Drews surged to an early lead by hitting .250 with 15 kills en route to a 25-18 victory in the opening set. But, Team De La Cruz used a dominating performance in the second set to take a 43-34 lead by hitting .500 while limiting Team Drews to a league record-low nine points in the frame. Team De La Cruz held off a late rally by Team Drews with a 25-23 verdict in the final set to seal the victory.
MATCH NOTES
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Team De La Cruz limited Team Drews to just nine points in the second set, marking the fewest points scored by a team in a single set in league history.
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Sheilla earned the seventh double-digit kill effort of her Athletes Unlimited career with the 17-kill performance on Saturday.
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De La Cruz has registered double-digit kill performances in four of her last five matches, including the last three in a row … In three matches during Week Two, she averaged 20.3 kills per contest with 34 digs.
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Drews extended her streak of consecutive double-digit kill performances to six matches in a row following her 15 kills on Saturday … She has posted at least 15 kills in each of the last four contests.
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Tomkom owns five matches with 30 or more assists this season after fashioning 36 assists in Saturday’s victory … She also contributed nine digs in the Week Two finale.
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Libero Amanda Benson tallied her fifth double-digit dig performance after leading Team Drews with 10 digs … She averaged 15.3 digs per match in her three appearances during Week Two.
MATCH MVPS
- #1 – Sheilla Castro (Team De La Cruz, +60)
- #2 – Bethania De La Cruz (Team De La Cruz, +40)
- #3 – Nomaris Vélez Agosto (Team De La Cruz, +20)
POINT-EARNERS
De La Cruz led all athletes with 337 leaderboard points in the victory, including a match-high 157 stat points, while Sheilla earned 329 points and moved into the No. 4 position on the leaderboard to secure a captain’s spot for the first time in her Athletes Unlimited career. Led by De La Cruz and Sheilla, Team De La Cruz secured 140 of the 180 possible win points as a result of winning two sets and the overall match. Drews paced her squad in the loss with 169 points.
INTO THE CAPTAIN SPOT
De La Cruz jumps back into the No. 1 captain spot with 1,779 points. De La Cruz captained her team to a 2-1 weekend, tallying a league record 27 kills in Friday’s match.
Behind De La Cruz by 324 points is Karsta Lowe, who will return to the captain spot once again at No. 2 on the leaderboard. Lowe has accumulated 1,455 points.
Drews drops to the No. 3 spot on the leaderboard and sits 42 points behind Lowe and Sheilla becomes the No. 4 captain with 1,319 points. It is the first time Sheilla will be captain.
