MOUNT OLIVE (Sept. 28) – In a highly competitive match, the Trojans were unable to hold off new conference foe Shorter in a 3-2 loss (25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 22-25, 15-17) at Kornegay Arena on Saturday afternoon in Conference Carolinas play.
With the loss, the University of Mount Olive women's volleyball program drops to 5-6 overall with a 2-2 record in conference action. It was the first meeting between the sides in a decade after the two teams faced off back in 2014. Meanwhile, Shorter improves to 6-6 this season behind a 1-0 mark in league play.
Senior
Karoline Cox produced a team-high 14 kills on a .357 hitting percentage with three service aces, two blocks, and five digs. Fellow senior
Ashlyn Stone registered kill/dig double-double with 11 kills and a season-high 23 digs in five sets played. Senior
Breanna Reisinger and sophomore
Kaitlyn Landis each finished with 10 kills against the Lady Hawks. Sophomore
Lyndsay Reid guided the offense with 37 assists and eight digs while junior
Breanna Tanton contributed 10 assists.
Stone led the defensive effort with 23 digs followed closely by freshman
Kacey Gore with a season-high 22 digs. Sophomore
Gracie Payne finished with 12 digs and junior Carolina Sheaffer reached double-figures with 10.
In the first set, Shorter held an early 8-7 edge, but UMO rallied with five unanswered points to take a 12-8 lead. The Trojans maintained an 18-15 advantage later in the set before scoring five of the next six points behind two kills by Cox, 23-16. The Lady Hawks closed the gap to 24-19 before a service error finished the opening set in favor of UMO, 25-19.
Mount Olive raced out to a quick 10-4 advantage in the second set with two kills from Reisinger and Stone. The sides exchanged the following six points before the Trojans scored five straight points to hold an 18-7 lead. Shorter responded with a 12-3 rally to cut the deficit to 21-19, but UMO finished with four consecutive points to claim a 25-19 win.
The Lady Hawks were resilient in the third set building a 15-5 advantage before the Trojans slowly trimmed the deficit to 23-18. Shorter reached set point off a kill, but Cox delivered a kill and an ace to trail 24-20. The Lady Hawks finished the third set with a kill to win, 25-20.
In the fourth set, the sides were tied at 8-8 before the Trojans established a 15-11 lead behind two kills from Landis. Shorter claimed a 16-15 edge after scoring five unanswered, but UMO responded with a 5-0 rally to take a 20-16 advantage. The Lady Hawks countered with a 9-2 run to steal the fourth set, 25-22.
In a back-and-forth final set, UMO held a 9-7 advantage following a pair of errors by Shorter. The Lady Hawks went on a 5-1 rally to take a 12-10 edge. The Trojans battled off match point twice to tie the contest at 14-14 before Shorter scored three of the final four points to earn the win, 17-15.
The Trojans are set to play two matches on Tuesday, Oct. 1, against Francis Marion and Lander hosted in Florence, South Carolina, starting at 2 p.m.
