BATESVILLE, Ark. – The Lyon College volleyball team wrapped up play at its Highlander Invitational with a split as the Scots swept Jarvis Christian College before falling in four sets to College of the Ozarks.
The Scots now stand at 6-3 on the year following the split.
Match One: Lyon 3, JCC 0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-10)
The Scots took command of the first set right from the get-go as Lyon scored the first five points of the game. Lyon continued to hold a comfortable lead for much of the set as the closest JCC got was four points at 16-12. Natalia Szymanska capped off the set with back-to-back kills as Lyon took game one, 25-18.
Set two had a different story to it as it was a back-and-forth battle between Lyon and JCC. After a kill by Laney Blankenship broke an 11-11 tie, the Scots began to pull away and took a 24-18 lead on a block by Samantha Ferguson and Szymanska. JCC pulled their way back within three, 24-21, but a service error gave the Scots a 25-21 win in game two.
It was all Lyon in set three as the Scots limited JCC to just 10 points in the set and took game three, 25-10.
Szymanska led the Scots offensively with a match-high nine kills, while Adia Sherbeyn racked up a match-high 18 digs. Blankenship dished out a match-high 15 assists.
Game Two: CofO 3, Lyon 1 (24-26, 15-25, 25-15, 25-23)
The Scots held a slight lead for much of the first set until a block by the Lady Bobcats gave CofO a 21-20 lead. After an error by the Scots, Lyon tied the score at 22-22 following a kill each by Szymanska and Charm Henderson. Lyon and CofO went on to exchange a one-point lead each, but after a timeout by College of the Ozarks, the Lady Bobcats took game one by a score of 26-24 following a pair of kills by Abi Menzies and an attack error by the Scots.
CofO used a 4-0 run to break a 6-6 tie and began to pull away from the Scots in the second set. The Lady Bobcats extended their lead to 21-13 before the Scots got a kill by Paeton Tucker. Lyon tried to rally back late, but CofO took game two, 25-15.
The Scots showed some fight in game three and built a 14-8 following an error by CofO. The Lady Bobcats cut the deficit to three, 16-13, but the Scots responded with a 5-1 run and took a 21-14 lead following an ace by Maria Eleni Bampiri. After an ace by Blankenship, Ferguson gave the Scots a 25-15 win in the third set with a kill.
The Scots attempted to force a fifth set and held a 10-9 lead in the fourth game after a kill by Tucker. The two teams battled back-and-forth from there until CofO took a 20-17 lead. After a Lyon College timeout, the Scots rallied back to tie the score at 23-23 following a block by Henderson and Bampiri but a pair of attack errors by Lyon gave CofO a 25-23 victory in game four.
Ferguson and Layne Smith led the Scots offensively with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Sherbeyn posted a match-high 23 digs, while Blankenship finished with a double-double as she recorded 13 digs to go along with 24 assists.
The Scots will travel to College of the Ozarks for a rematch on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
