BATESVILLE, AR – The Lyon College Scots volleyball team battled through a pair of hard-fought matches on Saturday, splitting a dramatic double-header. In the opener, the Scots and the Greenville College Panthers pushed each other to the brink in a five-set marathon, ultimately falling just short in a 2-3 loss (25-20, 14-25, 25-19, 15-25, 15-17). Undeterred, Lyon bounced back with resilience and precision in the second match, edging out the Mississippi University for Women (MWU) Owls in another tightly contested battle, 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-15).
Below are the recaps for both matches.
Lyon 2, Greenville 3
Scots got off to an early lead in first set, 3-1, off kills from
Cristen Cleveland and
Avery Fuller as well as a error by the Panthers.
Caroline Snow would set up
Mollie McCoy for a kill to tie it 5-5. Greenville would record a 3-1 run off kills, but McCoy and Snow would keep their lead to one, 8-7. A block by McCoy and Fuller would ignite a 6-2 run with
Madeline Hopson facilitating two kills from Cleveland and Fuller, Fuller would also drive in a service ace, 13-10. An error from the Scots would narrow the lead to two, 13-11, but a kill from
Keeley Beary and error by Greenville would extend the lead to four, 15-11. Snow would run the offense setting up three kills, two from Cleveland and one from Neveah Ghan, in a 5-0 Scots run, 20-12. Greenville would close the lead, but
Isabel Cervantes with an assist by Hopson set the Scots up for success, 24-18. Hopson would set up Beary to drive in the match point, 25-20.
In the second set, Scots lead early again, 3-1, off Cleveland recording another kill and two errors by the Panthers. Cervantes and Beary would drive in kills to put the Scots up two, 5-3, but Greenville would close the lead off errors, 5-5. Panthers would take the lead off a 10-2 run off service aces and errors by the Scots, 15-9. A kill from Cleveland, two kills from Cervantes, and a block by Cervantes and Ghan would tighten the lead to three, 16-13. Greenville would take the set on a 9-1 run, 14-25.
Greenville would give the Scots their first points of the third set off two errors, 2-1. Scots would add to this lead as Cleveland would notch an ace and a kill, while Cervantes would find the hardwood with two kills of her own, 6-4. Panthers would close the gap and Beary would drive in a kill to make it tied, 7-7. Scots would take the lead off a 5-1 run with Morgan Harrrelson and a McCoy driving in two kills set up by Snow, 12-9. Fuller would send a kill from Hopson to the floor and record crucial ace to extend the lead, 17-11. Beary would keep Scots lead at six with a service ace, 20-14. An error by the Panthers would begin a Scots 4-0 run with a Cleveland kill,
Olivia Locke ace, and a solo block by Fuller contributing, 24-16. Snow would set up Fuller to drive in the final kill, 25-19.
Errors, aces, a kill by Panthers would give them an early lead, 6-1. Kills from Beary and Fuller assisted by Hopson would close the lead to three, 6-3, but a kill and errors by the Scots would extend Greenville's lead, 9-3. With Greenville leading, 13-4, Scots would go on their only long run of the set 5-1. Cleveland would send three kills to the floor, with a kill from McCoy and service ace from Locke also contributing, 14-9. Greenville would respond extending away off kills and errors by Lyon, 18-10. A short 3-0 run from the Scots off a kill from Fuller assisted by Hopson, an error, and a ace by Cleveland brought the lead to five, 18-13. Greenville would take set four with a 7-2 run, 15-25.
In the fifth and final set both teams were neck and neck for with multiple ties occurring throughout. Hopson set up a Cleveland kill to tie the set, but Cleveland would drive in a service ace to take the lead, 3-2. Greenville would tie it off a kill, 3-3, but another Cleveland kill and error by Panthers would put Scots lead briefly, 5-3. This lead would be erased with the Panthers scoring a kill and an error by Lyon, 5-5. A block from Harrelson and kill from Fuller would put Scots on top 9-7. Beary would tie things again with a kill assisted by Snow, 14-14. Greenville would respond, but Cleveland would send a kill in to tie it, 15-15. But the Panthers would drive two back-to-back kills to take the match.
Cleveland lead the team in points (21), kills (18), and service aces (3). She recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs. Fuller lead the team in blocks recording four, three assisted and one solo. She contributed 11 kills, two aces, and five digs. Hopson ran the offense recording 31 assists, she also added four digs. Defensively, Locke led the team recording 17 digs. She contributed two assists and two aces.
Lyon 3, MUW 1
In the first set, the Owls took the lead early, 5-2, off kills, blocks, and an ace. Cervantes and Cleveland would drive in kills to close the lead to just one, 5-4. With MUW leading, 10-5, a 4-0 run from the Scots off a Cleveland kill assisted by Snow, kill by Fuller, and ace by Locke would close the lead, 10-9. Teams would trade points but a 3-0 run from the Scots with kills from Fuller, Harrelson, and Cervantes would tie it up, 14-14. Lyon would take the lead off a kill from Cervantes assisted by Hopson and an error by MUW, 16-15. Owls would respond with a 3-0 run of their own with kills and an error extending their lead by 2, 18-16. Teams would trade points again with Cleveland recording two kills during this time to make it 21-20 Owls. Two attack errors and a kill by Beary would get Lyon close, 24-23, but an error would hand the first set to MUW.
Both teams quickly reach a tie in the second ,3-3, with Hopson setting up two kills for Cleveland and a error by the Owls making the difference. Teams would exchange points back-and-forth for the Scots to take the lead with the McCoy assisted by Snow recording four kills during this part of the set, 10-9. MUW would respond with 8-1 run scoring off blocks, errors, and a kill, 17-11. Lyon would battle back with a 5-1 run off kills from Harrelson and McCoy, as well as two blocks by McCoy and Harrelson, and an error by the Owls, 18-16. Another error by MUW and two back-to-back service aces from Hopson brought the set to a tie, 20-20. MUW would go up by three, 23-20, but Scots would respond with a 5-0 run with two kills from
Reyleigh Twist, another kill from Cleveland, and an error by the Owls to take the set, 25-23.
In the third, Scots would go up 8-4 off an ace from Snow, kill from Twist assisted by Snow, and blocks from McCoy and Harrelson. MUW would respond with a 5-0 run off kills, blocks, and Scots errors to retake the lead 9-8. Twist and Cleveland would drive in kills set up Snow to tie, 11-11, but a kill from Cervantes would put the Scots on top, 12-11. Owls tied it quickly, 12-12, but an error and a block by Fuller and Twist put Lyon in the lead 14-12. However MUW would tie it again off a kill and error,14-14, but Scots would take the lead with a 3-1 run. Cervantes and Harrelson would find the floor driving in kills and a error by the Owls would make it 17-15. Scots would further extend the lead off kills from Twist, McCoy, and an ace by Twist, 21-16. MUW would battle back with both teams tieing it 22-22. Snow would set up Cleveland for a kill, Cervantes and Fuller would get up a block, and Owls would make an error for the Scots to take the third set 25-23.
To start the fourth and final set, teams would trade points back-and-forth with Scots taking the lead 9-5 off a kill by Cleveland and two errors by the Owls. Scots would continue their attack with a 6-0 run, scoring off kills from Locke and Fuller, a Cleveland ace, a block by Fuller and Twist, and errors, 15-6. An error by Lyon and a kill by MUW would close the lead to seven, 15-8. Scots would widen their lead again off a kill from Twist, Fuller ace, and block by Cervantes and Harrelson, 18-8. MUW would close the lead to just six points, 19-13, but two errors and a kill from Cleveland would keep Scots on top, 22-13. An error by the Owls began a 3-0 run, with a kills from Cleveland and the final kill being driven by McCoy to the set and the match.
Cleveland led the team in lead the team in points with 15 and kills with 14. She recorded her second double-double of the the matches played today with 14 kills and 10 digs. Defensively, Hopson led the team with 17 digs, she also led the team in service aces recording two. Fuller and Harrelson led the team in blocks each tallying four. Fuller contributed seven kills, one ace, one assist, and two digs. Harrelson added three kills. Snow kept the offense moving recording 18 assists. She also added one service ace and four digs.
Scots will hit the road this next week, traveling to Paragould, Arkansas to face the Crowley's Ridge College Pioneers on Tuesday, October 7th at 6:00 PM.
