Team Drews sweeps Team De La Cruz, 77-59
DALLAS — Outside hitter Dani Drews put together her best performance of the season with 20 kills and a .462 hitting percentage as Team Drews routed Team De La Cruz, 77-59, to close out Friday’s Athletes Unlimited Volleyball doubleheader at Fair Park Coliseum.
Team Drews, which improved to 2-0 on the week, earned the wire-to-wire victory by set scores of 25-17, 27-25 and 25-17. Team De La Cruz, meanwhile, dropped to 0-2 on the week.
Drews, who reached double figures in kills for the eighth consecutive match, finished with 20 kills on 39 attack attempts with just two errors. She also added four digs and two blocks.
Setter Natalia Valentin-Anderson registered 39 assists with nine digs and two kills, while libero Morgan Hentz poured in a match-high 12 digs.
Team De La Cruz was led by its captain as outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz tallied 13 kills with nine digs. Opposite hitter Erica Wilson notched nine kills and eight digs to go with 29 assists and eight digs from setter Carli Lloyd.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Team Drews used a dominating .345 hitting percentage and seven aces to sweep the match. After winning by a 25-17 margin in the first set, Team Drews held off a late rally by Team De La Cruz to post a 27-25 verdict in the middle set. The squad put the finishing touches on the victory with a 25-17 verdict.
MATCH NOTES
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Team Drews became the second team this season to secure a clean sweep of the 180 win points … Team McClendon posted a 76-58 victory over Team Lowe on Mar. 19 and took all of the win points.
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The 18-point margin of victory by Team Drews equaled the largest margin in a match this season, matching the 18-point win by Team McClendon on Mar. 19.
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Drews registered the fifth 20-kill effort by an athlete this season and became the fourth different athlete this year to reach 20 or more kills.
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De La Cruz tallied 10 or more kills for the sixth time this season, including her fifth match in a row … During the current five-match streak, she is averaging 17.6 kills per outing.
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De La Cruz dropped from the top spot on the leaderboard for just the third time in eight match days this season … She had held the No. 1 position since Mar. 23 before falling to third in the standings after Friday’s loss.
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Hentz has tallied 10 or more digs in seven of her eight outings this season after finishing with 12 digs.
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Wilson set a pair of career highs with her nine kills and eight digs on Friday night.
MATCH MVPS
- #1 – Dani Drews (Team Drews, +60)
- #2 – Morgan Hentz (Team Drews, +40)
- #3 – Natalia Valentin-Anderson (Team Drews, +20)
POINT-EARNERS
Led by its captain, Team Drews secured all 180 win points in the victory. Drews, meanwhile, finished with 408 leaderboard points after claiming MVP 1 honors for the third time this season. Hentz, who claimed her fourth MVP award of the season, added 303 points to go with 288 points from Valentin-Anderson.
