October 11, 2019

Lions split day one of PBC/SAC Crossover

The Mars Hill volleyball team (8-7) split day one of the PBC/SAC Crossover tournament, defeating Lander (14-3) in four sets, but falling to Augusta (15-2) in four.

Augusta

14-3,1-0 Peach Belt

Mars Hill

8-7,6-4 SAC

Final

Augusta 14-3,1-0 Peach Belt

Mars Hill 8-7,6-4 SAC

Lander

12-4,3-0 Peach Belt

Mars Hill

8-6, 6-4 SAC

Final

Lander 12-4,3-0 Peach Belt

Mars Hill 8-6, 6-4 SAC

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill volleyball team (8-7) split day one of the PBC/SAC Crossover tournament, defeating Lander (14-3) in four sets, but falling to Augusta (15-2) in four.

GAME ONE: MHU 3, LU 1

Mars Hill, after dropping the first set, won three straight to open Friday's action with a win. In the first set, the Lions led 15-8 before the Bearcats rallied back late to steal the first frame, highlighted by three straight kills from Kyra Ross to end the set.

After dropping the first set by a score of 26-24, the Lions returned the favor in the second with the same score. The Lions then dominated the third set, taking the frame by a mark of 25-15 while hitting .273 to Lander's .069.

The teams saw a back-and-forth affair in the fourth and final set until a solo block from Sally Anne Johnson punctuated the thrilling win for the Lions.

Ross led all players with 26 kills and collected 19 digs for the double-double. Sarah Goddard paced the Lions' offense with 11 kills followed by Lauren Phillips' 10 and Grace Lilly's nine.

GAME TWO: AU 3, MHU 1

The Lions stormed out of the gate in the final game of the day versus Augusta, taking the first set by a mark of 25-17 with Grace Lilly's five kills leading the way. The Jaguars hit .020 in the opening frame.

Augusta evened the score after coming from behind to take the second set. The Jaguars' offense was led by the duo of Nicolette Ramos and Madison Malloch. The Jaguars rolled their momentum over into the third, downing the Lions by a mark of 25-16. Mars Hill hit -.059 in the stanza.

Despite jumping out to a large lead, Augusta saw Mars Hill make a late push to make the fourth set interesting. The Jaguars at one point led 19-9 before a seven-point Mars Hill run pulled the Lions within three. Mars Hill was able to claw within one late in the frame, but the Jaguars held on to complete their sweep of SAC teams on the day.

Ramos led all players with 14 kills and added 10 digs. Malloch recorded 12 kills in the contest.

Lilly led the Lions with 12 kills and collected 11 digs for the double-double. Ully Martins led all players with 40 digs in the match.

The Lions return to action on Saturday, October 12 for day two of the PBC/SAC Crossover. Their first contest is scheduled for 1 p.m. versus Georgia College. They'll conclude the day with a 6 p.m. tilt versus USC Aiken.