Boiling Springs, N.C. – The Presbyterian College Blue Hose volleyball team (7-13, BSC: 5-4) fell to the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs (11-10, BSC: 5-4) after a five-set match, 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 26-28, 13-25, 10-15).
 
How it Happened vs Gardner-Webb
In the first set Gardner-Webb started off with a two-point lead. Ashley Miller put down two kills, but Gardner-Webb extended their lead to four with a score of 7-3. Hannah Rowe then took charge for the Blue Hose and recorded two kills, but Gardner-Webb matched them with two kills of their own to make the score 10-6. Presbyterian went on an 8-1 point run behind some Runnin' Bulldog errors and kills from Jordan McAda and Miller, which gave the Blue Hose a 14-11 lead. After some back and forth Presbyterian kept their three-point lead and the score was 17-14. Gardner-Webb stole the lead 19-18, after they took the next five points while holding PC to just one point. The Blue Hose answered with four points in a row after some Runnin' Bulldog errors. Presbyterian was winning 23-20 when Gardner-Webb put three more points on the board to tie the set at 23 apiece. Kasey Battle stepped up for the Blue Hose by recording a kill leading to Presbyterian winning the first set 25-23.
 
Once again Gardner-Webb scored two points to start the second set. The Blue Hose answered with a six-point run behind two kills from Rowe, putting PC in front with a score of 6-2. Gardner-Webb scored five of the next eight points to tighten the Blue Hose lead to a score of 9-7. After some back and forth Presbyterian went on another six-point run with two kills from Rowe followed by kills from Battle and McAda. This gave Presbyterian a eight-point lead at a score of 18-10. Gardner-Webb answered with a run of their own, winning nine of the next 11 points, which put the set at 21 points apiece. The Runnin' Bulldogs were able to grab a couple more kills, but ultimately Presbyterian put away set two 25-23.
 
Set three started off a little bit more even with a tie game at 3 points apiece. Some Runnin' Bulldog attack errors put Presbyterian up by two with a score of 6-4. Gardner-Webb took the next three-points, followed by a kill for the Blue Hose by Courtney Williams which tied the score at seven points each. Both teams battled back and forth until the tie was pushed to 11-11. The Runnin' Bulldogs scored four of the next five points to give them a 15-12 lead. More back and forth put the set at 18-15 which kept Gardner-Webb's lead of three points. Williams and Rowe both took another kill, but two kills from the Runnin' Bulldogs kept their lead at 20-17. Gardner-Webb scored another point before the Blue Hose went on a six-point run behind kills from McAda, Battle, blocks by Hailey Grocholski, Battle, and Miller, followed by a service ace from Sophia Del Valle. This run put Presbyterian back in the lead with a score of 23-21. Gardner-Webb scored the next three-points to get their lead back, 24-23. This didn't last long after A kill from Battle put the score back in PC's favor 25-24. Ultimately Gardner-Webb scored four more points while holding Presbyterian to only one which allowed the Runnin' Bulldogs to win set three with a score of 28-26.
 
To start off the fourth set, Gardner-Webb took a 5-1 lead. Presbyterian was able to score four out of the next seven points, behind two kills from Miller and one from Battle, to make the score 8-5, with the Runnin' Bulldogs still in the lead. Grocholski, Williams, and Kinsey Bailey each took a kill and Gardner-Webb scored two points putting the score at 11-8, PC trailing by three. Gardner-Webb went on a big run where they scored 12 of the next 14 points. Presbyterian was able to grab a few more points after two kills from Miller and one from Williams, but it wasn't enough to stop the Runnin' Bulldogs from forcing a deciding set after a fourth set score of 25-13.
 
In the fifth and final set both teams raced to a tie at three-points apiece. Presbyterian took a one-point lead, at 7-6, after a service ace from Courtney Aulbaugh, followed by a kill from Rowe. Gardner-Webb answered, tying the set at nine-points apiece before they ended set five at a score of 15-10.
 
Notables

• Hannah Rowe recorded 13 kills, 3 solo blocks, and 23 digs.
• Kasey Battle had 10 kills, 9 digs, and 3 assisted blocks.
• Ashley Miller tallied 10 kills, 5 digs, and a solo block.
• As a team the Blue Hose recorded a .244 hitting percentage in the second set.

 
Up Next
Next weekend, the Blue Hose will return to Templeton for a weekend of Big South Conference home matches, first against USC Upstate on Friday, October 27 at 6:00 p.m., followed by a match against UNC Asheville on Saturday, October 28 at 2:00 p.m.