Volleyball Drops Five-Set Heartbreaker

Columbia, S.C.- The volleyball team concluded their time in the state of South Carolina on Saturday. The team stayed in the city of Columbia to face the Columbia College Koalas in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) match.

Through the first ten points of the first set, the Lady Bulldogs trailed 6-4. The team took over the lead on a block solo by Olivia Miller and saw it grow over the next few points. A kill by Shante Smith made it 12-10 while a kill by Madison Coffey made the score 14-13. As the set remained close, the final tie occurred with the scoreboard reading 21-21. The tie was broken by TWU, helping them win the first set 25-22 on a Smith kill.

In the second set, the Lady Bulldogs broke a 7-7 tie with an Amya Sutton kill. The team carried the momentum from the tiebreak to a 14-7 lead, forcing a timeout by the opponents. Out of the timeout, Tennessee Wesleyan built their lead to 19-14. The momentum shifted as Columbia came back to tie the match 20-20. The Lady Bulldogs put the match in a 23-23 tie, breaking the tie with a Smith kill and winning the set 25-23 on a Columbia error.

A kill by Olivia Bolin gave TWU a 5-3 lead in the third set. The team held on to the lead over the next several points, seeing it move to 12-6 and 17-9 during segments of the match. The points did not continue to fall for the Lady Bulldogs though as Columbia came back, eventually taking the third set 25-22 to extend the match to a fourth set.

In the fourth set, the opponents took an early lead and held on to it through the first 25 points. A kill by Sutton put the match in a 13-13 tie and Bowie's service ace gave the team a 14-13 advantage. Tennessee Wesleyan held the lead over the next few points before a 22-22 tie happened. Columbia broke the tie and scored the two points needed to win the fourth set 25-23, sending the match to a fifth and deciding set.

Through the first 19 serves of the fifth set, neither team took a lead higher than one point. The 20^th serve of the set saw the opponents move ahead by two points. TWU battled back to tie the set, tying it 13-13 on a Smith kill. Columbia tied the match 14-14 and broke the tie to win the fifth set 16-14 and the match 3-2.

Smith finished the match with a career-high 17 kills while Sutton tied her career-high with 16 kills. Bolin led the team with 22 assists while Megan Thompson had a team-high 22 digs.