SCORE
Montevallo 3, Columbus State 0
RECORDS
Montevallo (9-6 overall, 2-1 in Peach Belt Conference)
Columbus State (2-11 overall, 0-3 in Peach Belt Conference)
LOCATION
Trustmark Arena (Montevallo, Ala.)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Falcons celebrated a couple of career milestones by seniors Briana Marquez and Rebekah Phelps in a 25-13, 25-22, 25-18 sweep of the Cougars in their Peach Belt Conference home opener.
Marquez recorded her 3,000th career kill early in the opening set as the Falcons coasted to a 25-13 win over Columbus State in the frame. Montevallo used a 12-3 run, capped with a service ace by sophomore Grace Harris, midway through the frame on its way to taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Cougars put up a better fight in the second set before the Falcons ended the frame with a 7-4 run to close out a 25-22 victory. Phelps, who picked up her 1,000th career kill in the frame, registered back-to-back service aces as Montevallo opened the set with a 11-6 run.
Montevallo ended the third and final set with a 6-3 run to clinch the match with a 25-18 win in the frame. Phelps closed out the victory with a kill to end the match.
STAT OF THE MATCH
Four players finished the match with an attack percentage of .300 or better in the Falcons' victory. Sophomore Kristy Bohan paced Montevallo with a .583 attack percentage while racking up eight kills. Marquez posted three kills and a .500 attack percentage. Senior Nicole Holton led the Falcons with nine kills and finished with a .421 attack percentage, while Phelps contributed eight kills while hitting .333 in the win.
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Montevallo improved to 7-0 in home openers in Peach Belt Conference play since joining the conference prior to the 2009 season.
The Falcons finished with an impressive .529 attack percentage in their 25-13 win in the opening set, marking their highest attack percentage in a single set in Peach Belt Conference play since registering a .652 attack percentage in a set against Georgia College during the 2013 season.
Marquez flirted with a double-double after finished with a team-high 30 assists to go along with eight digs and five service aces.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Katie O'Brien
"We definitely play well, and they do too, when we play each other. The home crowd was amazing. Everyone in the sea of purple, and the cheerleaders and the faculty and staff appreciation night, it gave our girls a lot of energy."
"I think, by having depth, you can't focus on one person. While we might have one or two hot for a set, it can change in the next set. That's always a threat, especially when you have two power hitters up there at the same time."
"I've never had that happen before. Carissa Bell obviously got her 1,000th dig before and now we've added two more, so that just tells you how strong our senior class is. It doesn't happen for everyone, so that's a lot of hard work to Briana's credit and Rebekah's credit.
Senior Briana Marquez
"It's really exciting. It's funny, because without my hitters and my defense obviously I wouldn't have gotten that, so it's funny I get an award for everyone else working hard. But, I like it. It feels good."
"Oh my gosh, it's awesome. We love the support from our athletes and then there was a lot of non-athletes. It was really nice to see everyone out there."
Senior Rebekah Phelps
"It was really exciting. I've been hoping to reach this point since my freshman year. It was nice to be able to do it at home with a big home crowd."
"It definitely helps build momentum and keeps us going. It's noticeable out there on the court. You can see us perform better with the crowd. We feed off their energy and they feed off ours. It's great."
UP NEXT
Montevallo continues its Peach Belt Conference home stand Friday, Oct. 2 with a match against USC Aiken at Trustmark Arena. First serve is set for 5 p.m.
