Mount Olive, N.C. – The University of Mount Olive women's volleyball team dropped a hard-fought match to Erskine College, 3-1, in the Trojans' home-opener on Friday night.

GAME INFORMATION
Score:  Erskine 3, Mount Olive 1 (25-14), (25-23), (24-26), (25-18) 
Records: Mount Olive 4-5 (0-1); Erskine 4-5 (1-0)
Location: Kornegay Arena

How It Happened
Play-by-Play

FIRST SET

• Mount Olive struggled early on, as Erskine opened the match on an 8-2 run.
• UMO quickly cut into the Fleet's lead, 8-4, on an Erskine service error and attacking error.
• Erskine would take control of the set by forcing a Trojan timeout and jumping out to a 13-4 advantage.
• The Trojans hit -.054 in the first, while Erskine hit .286.

SECOND SET

• The Trojans jumped out to an early 7-6 lead, forcing an Erskine timeout after a kill by junior Britni Johnson and back-to-back Fleet attack errors.
• Coming out of the timeout, Erskine responded with a 7-3 run to take the lead for good.

THIRD SET

• In a barn-burner of a set, the Trojans pushed Erskine with multiple ties.
• Trailing 24-21, the tide turned for the Trojans as UMO recorded five straight points to capture the set victory.
• The critical 5-0 run was fueled by freshman Natalie Perez's serving and a pair of kills by junior Karley Pounds.

FOURTH SET

• Erskine again took control early in the set but had to fend off resistance by UMO.
• Led by Perez and junior Mackenzie Call, the Trojans kept pace with the Fleet and tied the match at 11-11.
• Erskine once again found a response, running out to a 16-12 lead before taking the set and the match with a 25-18 win.

KEY STATS

• Johnson led the Trojans with 12 kills.
• Freshman Kamber Skeen led UMO with a double-double of 27 assists.
• Junior Casey Fiechter tied a career-high with 28 digs to lead Mount Olive.
• Pounds added 10 kills and a pair of block assists.
• Perez helped power the Trojans with five total blocks.

UP NEXT
The Trojans return to action Saturday against Emmanuel College at 2 p.m. in Kornegay Arena.