AIKEN, S.C. (Sept. 3) – The University of Mount Olive volleyball program fell in a pair of matches on the final day of the Pacer Invitational on Saturday, suffering a 3-0 loss to Lander before dropping a 3-2 match to Augusta.
With the losses, the Trojans move to 3-5 on the year after playing in a pair in invitationals to start the 2022 campaign. UMO has faced a total of eight teams from six different states during the early season stretch.
Against Lander (4-2) of the Peach Belt Conference (PBC), UMO was swept with a 3-0 margin (23-35, 23-25, 17-25) after being limited to 27 kills on a .124 hitting percentage. Senior
Amara Eziakonwa and freshman
Sam Widelski led the Trojans was seven kills each against the Bearcats. The offense was directed by senior
Jenna Myer with 12 assists and teammate
Madison Goodman added 10 assists in the loss.
Sophomore
Morgan Prots finished with a game-high 16 digs, Widelski and Myer registered nine and four digs, respectively, on Saturday morning. Eziakonwa and senior
Camryn Huber controlled the net with four blocks each in the match.
Against Augusta (5-2) of the PBC, the Trojans suffered a 3-2 loss (25-19, 19-25, 16-25, 25-21, 8-15) in a five-set thriller after registering double-digit aces in the match. Sophomore
Ashlyn Stone paced the team with 11 kills on a .259 clip and Eziakonwa finished with 10 kills against Jaguars. Sophomore
Neza Pec recorded nine kills, while senior
Alyssa Jackson and Huber both tallied eight kills, respectively. Myer guided the offense with 25 assists and Goodman added 18 assists in the contest.
Prots posted 23 digs, her fourth match with at least 20 digs this season, while Pec totaled 13 digs in the loss. Jackson led the defensive effort with six blocks and Huber added three blocks during the second match of the day. The Trojans registered 12 aces in the match and featured three players with at least three aces versus Augusta.
The Trojans return to play on Tuesday, Sept. 6, when they host their home-opener versus Shaw at Kornegay Arena, starting at 6 p.m.
