Columbus Fury snap six game losing streak, downs league leading Atlanta
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Looking to snap a six-match losing streak, the Columbus Fury welcomed the Atlanta Vibe to Nationwide Arena on Friday evening. The match marking the Fury’s eighth contest at home this season. Columbus’ last victory came at the hands of the Vibe on March 24th as they grabbed an impressive 3-1 victory over the league leaders. As luck would have it, history would repeat itself as the Fury downed the Vibe 3-1.
SET ONE
The Fury began the match by jumping out to a 2-1 lead over the league leading Vibe. Atlanta scored the next five points to claim a 6-2 advantage in the first set. Columbus fought back to trim the lead to two points at 7-5.
The Vibe grew its lead to a robust 18-10 advantage as they looked to close out the first set with a victory. The hosts wouldn’t go quietly into the night, tying the set at 20-20 by riding the strength of 5-0 and 4-0 runs respectively. Opposite hitter Kendall Kipp led the charge with four kills in the opening period. Columbus would tie the set up at 22-22 and went on to score one more point in the set before falling 25-23.
SET TWO
The second set opened with Columbus claiming a 5-2 advantage in the early moments. The Fury never relinquished the lead in the set as they remained competitive thanks to Megan Courtney-Lush who registered 10 digs through the first two sets. Kipp added eight kills in the second set as Columbus headed into the locker room with momentum against the league leaders.
SET THREE
Atlanta emerged from the locker room looking to show why it is the pole sitter atop the Pro Volleyball Federation. The Vibe jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the early going as it rode strong performances from outside hitter Alli Linnehan, middle blocker Shelly Fanning, and opposite hitter Grace Cleveland.
Columbus battled back by orchestrating a 5-0 scoring run to trim the lead to 9-8. Courtney-Lush continued her strong run of form but she received help from middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord and opposite hitter Jenaisya Moore who finished with 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Fury tied the match at 14-14 as head coach Ángel Pérez went to his bench and called up Ivania Ortiz as her speedy serve handcuffed Atlanta’s Leah Edmond. The two teams rallied for another six hits before Columbus collected the point and moved into the lead with a 15-14 advantage.
Fueled by its fans, Columbus jumped out 18-17 lead and wouldn’t look back as it claimed a 25-22 a set three win.
SET FOUR
Kendall Kipp began the fourth set with a heavy-handed swing that took a deflection off a Vibe defender to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Columbus jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Atlanta came crawling back with a run of its own.
The Vibe eventually reclaimed a 6-5 lead following a long hit but Kipp but the lead was short lived as Moore collected one of her 10 kills.
Being the league leaders, Atlanta demonstrated its pedigree by recapturing the lead and growing it to as much as 17-12. The Fury stormed back to cut the lead to 17-17 as the crowd at Nationwide Arena urged them on.
Momentum on their side, Columbus jumped out to a 21-19 lead asthe fans could begin to see the end in sight. The lower bowl of Nationwide Arena coming alive as the Vibe were forced to take a timeout to halt the momentum.
The timeout came in vein as the Fury claimed the 25-21 set four victory and won the match 3-1.