Knieper, Kunkle Lead Volleyball to Road Sweep of Tigers

SALEM, W. Va. – The Frostburg State Volleyball team snapped a five-match winless streak with a 3-0 sweep of Salem on Thursday evening.
 
The Tigers opened up the match with an ace, though a couple setting errors and a kill by junior Amanda Knieper brought things to a 3-3 tie early on. FSU then went on a 5-1 run, with freshman Allison Brown serving up an ace and sophomore Paige Mock finding the floor twice, pushing ahead 8-4. Salem hung around up to 11-8, but kills from Knieper, Mock, sophomore Maya Johnson, and another ace by Brown to go with freshman Devin Brunk pushed the advantage all the way up to 17-9.
 
The advantage grew to as much as 10 after yet another serve, this time from sophomore Alyssa Stanton, with senior AJ Thompson making it 21-11 with a kill, but SU had six of the next seven points to slowly pull within 22-17. The Bobcats shut down any hope of a late comeback, as freshman Dani Kunkle earned a kill, then Johnson powered one down and combined with Thompson on a set-ending block to take a 1-0 lead in the match at 25-17.
 
Salem once again took the first point of the second set, but FSU had six of the next seven, with Johnson and Thompson accounting for three combined kills and a block to lead 6-2. The Tigers kept within touching distance up to 10-7, when freshman Dani Kunkle bookended Thompson and Johnson, as all three found the floor on a five-point run to lead 15-7. Thompson and Knieper followed up with back-to-back scores, then Kunkle and Johnson combined for Frostburg's final three points to take the set convincingly 25-14.
 
Set three was the closest beginning of any up to that point, as SU kicked off in the same way they started the night, with a service ace. That would be their only lead of the set, as Kunkle, Thompson, and Knieper led Frostburg to a 4-2 lead. The Tigers wouldn't allow FSU to pull away as easily this time, as the Bobcats never led by more than two points up to a 12-12 tie. Mock, Knieper, and Brown got some breathing space with three straight points, the latter on another ace to move ahead 15-12. Mock kept the momentum going with back-to-back scores, then a Stanton serve, Knieper kill, and Thompson block helped Frostburg surge ahead 22-15. Kunkle found the floor and freshman Emery Kuebler capped off FSU's seventh ace of the match, as a Tiger serving error ended the set 25-17 for the Bobat sweep.
 
Knieper and Kunkle tied the match lead with 11 kills apiece, the former putting up a double-double with a team-high 15 digs as well. Johnson tied her career-highs with eight kills and three blocks, while Kuebler joined senior Fiona Gonzalez Medina in double digit digs with 10 and 14, respectively, the former putting up 33 assists on the night.
 
With the win, Frostburg improves to 5-8, while Salem falls to 2-12. The teams face off against one another again on Friday, October 4, with the match coming back to Bobcat Arena at 7 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.