ASHEVILLE, N.C. – For the second occasion in fewer than 24 hours, the Presbyterian College volleyball team accomplished a lopsided Set One result that gave them an early edge over a Big South combatant. However, UNC Asheville would claim the next three sets on Saturday in North Carolina, beating PC 25-17, 23-25, 15-25, 23-25.
The Blue Hose hit .323 collectively in the opening frame and amassed five aces in Set One alone, but slowed after that hot start and is now 0-3 in conference contests.
Head coach
Maddie Moss and co. will remain on the road for their next two Big South affairs, traveling to Radford and High Point next weekend. They'll play the Highlanders on Friday at 4:00, then the Panthers on Saturday at 6:00.
SET ONE – PC def. UNC ASHEVILLE, 25-17
- It was all blue and garnet from the get-go in the first chapter, scoring the first four points and grabbing a lead that reached its apex at nine.
- Presbyterian posted nine aces over the entire match, with over half of them occurring in Set One. Fittingly, it was an ace by
Celimar Hoyos (her second of the game) to clinch the 25-17 decision, as PC had only one attack error in that entire stanza.
- Their .323 attack percentage is thus far PC's highest single-set mark since Big South competition started last weekend.
- Going back to yesterday's tight loss to USC Upstate, the Blue Hose have now won their last two opening sets by a combined margin of 50-36.
SET TWO – UNC ASHEVILLE def. PC, 25-23
- A raging rally near the end of the second set was nearly enough to put PC on top 2-0, although Asheville managed to make timely plays that evened up the match at one win each.
- The Bulldogs were determined to erase the mood from the previous set, leaping out to a 10-3 cushion before the Blue Hose made a sizable move of their own.
-
Emma McHatten and
Elyse Hutchinson sent in three kills to pull PC within one (15-14), and two more successful swings by
Courtney Williams and
Julia Yurkovich kept the Scotsmen in the hunt.
-
Brittney Daphnis put the ball in the sweet spot to tie things up at 15 apiece, and another ace (this one by
Amaris Alvarez) gave Presby their first lead of Set Two at 17-16.
- That punctuated a 14-6 PC sprint, but Asheville responded with five unanswered points to get back in the driver's seat.
- McHatten landed two kills in a row to try and keep Presbyterian above water, although the Bulldogs survived by two when the dust settled.
SET THREE – UNC ASHEVILLE def. PC, 25-15
- Despite taking a 5-3 advantage on kills by Williams,
Anisa Dorlouis, and
Ashley Miller, the Blue Hose fell victim to an 8-1 charge by the home side that put them in a hole that they couldn't dig out of.
- A brief 4-0 flurry by PC (including an
Aubrie Arnold ace) showed signs of another possible comeback, but it was Asheville who distanced themselves again by scoring six of the next seven.
- All told, it was a 10-1 extended run for the Bulldogs that carried them to a 10-point differential in Set Three and a 2-1 lead in the grand scheme of things.
SET FOUR – UNC ASHEVILLE def. PC, 25-23
- More drama followed in the fourth period, a set that entailed five ties and a few late lead changes.
- Two kills by Miller and Daphnis, along with Alvarez' second ace of the afternoon, positioned PC as the leader at 18-15. An Asheville service error kept Presby in front 20-18, but the Bulldogs grabbed the next two points to set up the closing sequence.
- Yurkovich gave her unit a 21-20 advantage on her sixth kill, but UNC Asheville again went back-to-back in the next two volleys to stay ahead for good.
- Following a Bulldog block that moved Asheville to Match Point, Miller's third kill made it 24-23. Needing just one more to extend Set Four, PC was unsuccessful and ended with a second loss by two points.
NOTABLES
- Dorlouis dialed up 19 digs on Saturday after a season-high 24 at Upstate, the sixth time in the last seven matchups that she's produced double-digits in that category.
- Williams and Daphnis added up for 16 kills, with Yurkovich and McHatten both coming away with six themselves.
