Women's Volleyball earns fourth straight win in Senior Day victory

Salisbury, N.C. - The Catawba College women's volleyball team rolled to their fourth straight win on Saturday afternoon, storming back against the visiting Mars Hill Lions for a 3-1 Senior Day victory at Goodman Arena to move to 10-10 on the season and 8-8 in South Atlantic Conference play.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba hitters racked up 57 kills on the afternoon, besting Mars Hill's 45

- All 57 of Catawba's kills were assisted, with 44 of Mars Hill's being served up

- Mars Hill had 24 errors during the match, compared to 17 for Catawba

- Catawba led the way defensively, with 87 digs to the Lions' 79

- Service Aces were a key factor, as Catawba notched nine of them to just one for Mars Hill

- Mars Hill led in block assists, 14-8

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Kelcie Love continued her late-season surge as Catawba's leading hitter, with a game high 18 kills. Jordan Danielson and Rachel Gonzales also tallied double digit figures, with Danielson racking up 12 and Gonzales notching 10

- Dara Kane put together an incredible effort on Senior Day, serving up 51 assists in her final home game and nearly meeting her career high of 55. Kane also had 3 service aces, 12 digs, and a block assist

- Riley Hill built on a week that saw her named the SAC Defensive Player of the Week, leading all players with 33 digs. She was one of four Catawba players in double figures, as Gonzales finished with 16, Kary Hales had 15, and Kane had her 12

- Both Jordan and Chloe Danielson each finished with three block assists in an impressive performance up front

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST SET

- Mars Hill took the opening point and did not trail the entire first set, with several early kills to get the offense going, Catawba kept pace through Gonzales, Jordan Danielson, Love, and Lauren Patrick

- The Lions broke out to a three point lead to make it 8-5 after a 5-5 start, and forced a Catawba timeout when the lead became 11-7 after a series of errors

- With the Lions up 15-11, Love erupted for three straight clutch kills to force a Mars Hill timeout with the lead down to just one

- While Love, Jordan Danielson, and Gonzales would continue to stay hot offensively, Brooke Hoffman and Katilyn Grant answered each time for Mars Hill to keep the visitors ahead

- The Lions put Catawba on the brink 24-21, but a pair of errors and a huge Jordan Danielson kill knotted the game up at 24-all

- However, Mars Hill responded with two straight kills to ice the first set and take a 1-0 lead

SECOND SET

- The second set opened very differently than the first, as Catawba raced out to an 8-3 lead via three kills from Chloe Danielson and a kill and ace from Gonzales that forced a Mars Hill timeout

- Kills from Grant and Hoffman, along with several Catawba errors, allowed Mars Hill to close the game to one point

- It would become a back-and-forth affair, with Love leading the effort for Catawba with a pair of kills. Kane and Jordan Danielson also got in on the action

- After Mars Hill pulled to withing two at 16-14, Catawba ripped off a 5-0 run that would turn into a 9-3 stretch to close the game. Jordan Danielson and Gonzales each notched a pair of kills in the closing effort to knot the game up at 1-1

THIRD SET

- Catawba again jumped out to an early lead, going up 4-1 thanks to several Mars Hill errors. Those would dominate the early going, and along with kills from Chloe Danielson, Patrick, and Love it would be 10-6 in Catawba's favor

- It stretched into a 20-10 lead for Catawba as the home side rolled on a 10-4 run, led by a Jordan Danielson ace, a Gonzales kill, and more errors from the Lions

- Mars Hill rallied for a 6-2 run, before Catawba closed the set out on a 3-0 run following a timeout. Love and Jordan Danielson each notched a kill, while Kane provided an ace

FOURTH SET

- This time, it was Mars Hill jumping out to a 5-1 lead that ballooned into a 10-3 lead with several kills from Timmons Yates and Jordan Schmucker for the Lions

- That would be where Catawba would begin to fight back, with Chloe Danielson and Love each notching a pair of kills to pull Catawba to 13-9

- The momentum would continue, as a 6-1 stretch buoyed by two aces from Kary Hales and kills from both Danielson sisters made it 15-15

- After Mars Hill retook the lead 16-15, Catawba would pull ahead for good on a 5-0 run thanks to a pair of Jordan Danielson kills and another from Katrina Misra

- The closest that Mars Hill would get was within two, as Love scored another pair of kills before Kane closed out the win in storybook fashion, with an ace for the final point on her Senior Day for a 3-1 Catawba win

UP NEXT

- Catawba is back in action on Thursday, Nov. 9th as they hit the road to take on the Newberry Wolves at 7 p.m.