It was probably a combination of all three and then some as the Ashford University (6-4, 1-0 MCC) volleyball team opened Midwest Collegiate Conference by defeating defending league champion William Penn University (6-5, 0-1 MCC) in a nail-biting thriller, 25-15, 24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 15-10.
Allison Uceda of Lima, Peru, punctuated a wild Ashford rally by recording the match's final kill on a feed from Hanna Bruns that sent the remaining crowd into a frenzy.
"So many things went through my mind on the last shot -- I was so nervous and didn't want to let my team down," Uceda said afterwards. "We were just focused and put our heart and soul into this game."
The Saints' win snapped a six-match losing streak against the Lady Statesmen dating back to Sept. 21, 2005 -- the first year AU Head Coach Cewe took over the program.
"It's really nice to start off with a winning record in conference play," Cewe said. "The intensity level was high when we came out and we were just ready to compete."
AU captured the first set with relative ease, aided by an 8-0 run that caused William Penn to burn a pair of timeouts early as it tried to solve the Saints' frontline height. But the Ashford momentum gradually faded to the point where the Saints relinquished the second and third sets to face elimination.
It was soon gut-check time for Cewe's team and he looked elsewhere for motivation during a timeout in the fourth set after Ashford fell behind 14-7 early on.
"I drew a heart on the (marker) board and challenged the girls to see what they were made of," Cewe said. "I was a little bit worried midway through that fourth set because I knew we were better than that. Sometimes, confidence can be an issue with our team and I just told them to stay confident."
Cewe's speech sparked a flurry and Ashford eventually came back to take the lead 16-15 on a Bruns kill. After a little more see-sawing, Uceda recorded a solo front-line block and forced William Penn to call its second time out when the Saints were up 21-20. Uceda might have foreshadowed what was coming, placing the final kill in the fourth set in the back row corner that regained momentum, 25-23.
The Saints ended the match just like they began the evening and a pair of McCausland kills forced the Lady Statesmen to call quick timeouts in the fifth set. Freshman Sarah Wenzel of Clinton sandwiched a kill of her own that gave Ashford a six-point advantage (10-4).
AU held an 8-4 lead before switching sides.
McCausland tied Bruns for the team lead in kills with 12 and nailed down five of those in the final frame. Junior defensive specialist Samantha Moller of Silvis, Ill., added a game-high 20 digs. Sophomore setter Whitney Miller of Clinton was credited with 26 assists.
The Saints play the second match of their three-game homestand as they host Div. III Augustana College tonight at 7 p.m. in Kehl Arena.
