Conway, AR - The Lyon College Scots volleyball team headed southwest this weekend to open their 2025 season. Scots broke even sweeping Belhaven 25-20, 25-18, 25-20, then dropped their match to Hendrix in a hard fought defeat in four sets 25-18, 20-25, 21-25, 17-25. Lyon is now 1-1 on the year.
Below are recaps for both matches.
Lyon 3, Belhaven 0
Scots dominated offensively with 32 kills, 15 service aces, and a .158 hitting percentage compared to Belhaven's 21 kills, five service aces, and .011 hitting percentage. Defensively Lyon recorded 36 digs and 5 blocks. Well rounded offense, defense, and less attack errors (17) compared to Belhaven (20) led Lyon to sweep 3-0.
Scots got off to a head start with three straight service aces from
Reyleigh Twist, 5-0. Critical kills from Neveah Ghan,
Cristen Cleveland, and a service ace from
Caroline Snow extended the gap, 9-2. Blazers battled back off kills and errors closing Lyon's lead to two, 11-9. Three key back to back kills from
Avery Fuller extended the lead, 15-11. Belhaven trying to close lead were stopped by a critical
Keeley Beary kill sending the Scots on a four point run, 20-14. Defense capped off the first set with the final point scored off a block by Fuller and
Mollie McCoy.
Tied in the second, 7-7, a kill from Twist and two straight service aces by
Sofia Santis put the Scots on top, 12-7. Blocks from Ghan, Cleveland, both assisted by Fuller furthered Lyon's lead, 19-11. Crucial kills from Ghan, Cleveland, and Beary put the set within the Scots grasp, 24-18. Lyon took set two with final point off a Blazers service error, 25-18.
Scots were up 5-1 to start in the third set, Blazers tied things ,5-5, off four Lyon errors. Belhaven got out in front off aces and errors, 8-10, a critical kill by Cleveland and block by McCoy made the score even, 10-10. With Scots down,12-19, a key service error by Belhaven led to an 11 point run, 24-19. A block from Fuller, kills from Ghan & Cleveland, multiple assists by
Madeline Hopson, and two service aces from Twist contributed to this incredible comeback. A Belhaven service error wrapped the match for the Scots, 25-20.
Cleveland led the team with 12.5 points, notching 10 kills on 25 attempts for a hitting percentage of .240. Santis led the team defensively with ten digs. Fuller lead the team with four blocks, adding four kills, two service aces, and three digs. Twist scored 10.5 points, leading the team with seven service aces and five digs. Hopson facilitated the offense with 17 assists, adding a service ace and six digs.
Lyon 1, Hendrix 3
Lyon was overpowered by Hendrix College falling in a four-set match, losing 25-18, 20-25, 21-25, 17-25. Scots had 36 kills, 34 assists, and 56 digs while the Warriors finished with 56 kills, 53 assists, and 74 digs.
The first set was promising as the Scots got off to a 5-1 start.
Madeline Hopson assisted in scoring the first point off a kill from
Avery Fuller, while two aces from Rayleigh Twist and errors by the Warriors put LC out front.
Cristen Cleveland notched another kill with an assist from
Caroline Snow to widen the lead, 8-4. Hendrix battled back with four kills but, defense from
Mollie McCoy and
Keeley Beary plus a kill from McCoy maintained the lead, 10-8. Fuller made a strong contribution both on offense and defense with a kill, service, and was in on block to make it 17-10. Lyon extended their nine point lead off a kill by Neaveh Ghan and a service ace by Snow, 21-12. Final point was tallied by Cleveland with an assist from Hopson.
A slew of attack errors put the Scots on top in the second set, 6-4. Hendrix got out ahead off three kills, 8-9. McCoy scratched another with an assist from Snow to make it even, 9-9. Lyon and Hendrix met again, 15-15, off errors and few kills. Kills from Cleveland with assists from Hopson and McCoy put Scots back in lead, 18-16. Warriors would go on a 9-2 run to win the set, 20-25.
Early in the third set Lyon led 4-2 off a Cleveland kill with a Hopson assist. A 7-1 run from the Warriors put them in lead they would not lose, 5-10.
Morgan Harrelson tallies a kill to cut the lead to eight, 9-17. Three kills from Ghan with assists from Fuller and Hopson would manage the eight point deficit, 12-20. Scots closed the gap to just four points on a McCoy kill assisted by
Chaney McCance, 18-22. Hendrix would take third set 21-25.
Warriors controlled the fourth set taking early lead, 4-9. Scots would close lead to just four points with a kill from McCoy assisted by Snow, 9-13. A Hopson service ace would tighten the contest to just three points, 11-14. Hendrix play at net would widen the led again going on a 6-2 run to make the score 13-20. Fourth and final set of the match would end 17-25.
Fuller led the team with 11.5 points, with eight on 21 attempts for a hitting percentage of .318.
Sofia Santis led the team with 13 digs, adding a service ace. McCoy led the team with nine kills, and contributed on defense with two digs. Snow led the team with 14 assists, adding three service aces and three digs.
The Lyon College Scots volleyball team will travel to Memphis, Tennessee to compete in the Rhodes College Classic Saturday, September 5, at 3:00 PM.
