Mock, Johnson, Knieper Set Career-Highs in Volleyball Sweep of Tigers

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Volleyball team earned their second consecutive sweep of Salem on Friday night inside Bobcat Arena.
 
The match started off with sophomore Maya Johnson and senior AJ Thompson combining on a block, as a pair of kills from sophomore Paige Mock and one from junior Amanda Knieper put FSU up 4-2 early. After a service error, Mock earned another kill followed by two straight Tiger errors to go up by four, but the visitors kept things close up to a 9-7 score. From that point, it was all FSU, as Salem only managed two points the rest of the way, beginning with Knieper finding the floor either side of Mock as part of a four-point run.
 
The Bobcats followed up with five in a row on kills from freshman Dani Kunkle and Mock, as freshman Allison Brown put down an ace with the lead at 18-8. After another serving error gave SU their final point of the set, Knieper combined with Kunkle for three kills, then the former served up a pair of aces to close things out 25-9.
 
Frostburg rattled off five points in a row to begin the second frame, as Johnson had a pair of blocks, one solo and one with Thompson, with the latter earning another kill on an assist from freshman Emery Kuebler, who also had an ace in the run. Thompson and Johnson then followed up with back-to-back scores, as the lead grew to 8-1 until back-to-back Tiger points slightly quelled the momentum. FSU took four of the next five points to go up 12-4, with Knieper and Mock earning kills, the latter also stuffing an attack with Johnson.
 
Salem fought back with three in a row, while the Bobcat offense featured three combined kills from Mock and Thompson, while Knieper and Kuebler earned another pair of aces, as the lead stood at 17-9. After back-to-back SU scores, Johnson, Thompson, Mock, and Knieper each played their part in a 6-2 run, while Kunkle got herself an ace with the advantage at 23-13. The Tigers stuck around with three straight scores, but Knieper and Kunkle earned back-to-back kills to end the set 25-16.
 
FSU took five of the first six points of the final set, looking to close out SU for the second-straight night, as Thompson, Knieper, and Mock had kills to go along with a Brown ace and a Johnson-Mock block. Knieper put up another pair of scoring serves, with another later coming from sophomore Alyssa Stanton off the back of a kill from junior Ada Kuday, with Frostburg leading 12-3. The Bobcats rolled with their momentum, going on to take eight of the next nine points, as Thompson, Johnson, Knieper, and Mock combined for seven of them, the latter two adding a combined block into the mix. With a 21-6 score, Salem took three of the next four points before being closed out with three Mock kills and a score from Kunkle to take the match after a 25-9 set.
 
Mock put down a career-high 14 kills, not making a single attacking error to earn a hitting percentage of .778. Knieper joined her in double figures at 11 kills, while also putting up a career-high five aces and tying with Kuebler for the team lead in digs (8). Johnson had a career-best five blocks, as the Bobcats hit .402 as a team, their best percentage in a match since September of 2022.
 
With the win, Frostburg improves to 6-8 on the year, while Salem falls to 2-13. FSU next hits the road to face Wheeling on Tuesday, October 8 at 7 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.