MURFREESBORO — Olivia Melvin turned in a career performance Wednesday afternoon, recording a career-high 20 kills as the University of Mount Olive women's volleyball team battled Chowan through five sets before falling 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 15-7) at the Hawks Athletic Center.
Melvin's 20 kills came on 57 attacks as she hit .193 for the match, surpassing her previous career high while accounting for nearly 40 percent of the Trojans' 52 kills.
Mount Olive (4-9, 3-3 Conference Carolinas) opened the match by taking the first set, 25-22, before Chowan answered with a 25-23 victory in the second. The Trojans responded in the third set, hitting .343 as a team while taking the frame, 25-20.
Chowan forced a deciding fifth set with a 25-21 fourth-set victory. The Hawks then jumped out to an early lead in the final frame before closing out the match, 15-7. Mount Olive battled back from a 14-4 deficit with three straight points to make it 14-7, but Chowan finished the match on the next point.
Kaitlyn Landis added 12 kills and 27 digs, while
Kaitlyn Koel contributed nine kills.
Lyndsay Reid directed the Trojans' offense with 44 assists and added 17 digs.
Kacey Gore led Mount Olive defensively with 27 digs, while
Marleigh Cooper finished with 18.
The Trojans finished the match with 52 kills, 51 assists, 81 digs and eight total blocks.
Mount Olive will continue Conference Carolinas play in its next scheduled contest at Belmont Abbey at 6 p.m.
