Volleyball Battles Mars Hill In Hard-Fought Match

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Catawba College women's volleyball battled the Mars Hill Lions on the road on Friday night but fell 27-25, 23-25, 25-17, 26-24. 

Catawba (3-12, 1-6 SAC) went toe-to-toe with one of the conference's top teams in Mars Hill (13-2, 8-2 SAC). The Catawba volleyball team showed a more balanced offensive attack as five different players recorded five or more kills in the contest. Ashley Johnson and Rachel Gonzales each had 13 kills while Kelcie Love added seven. 

Mars Hill jumped ahead early in the first set behind five straight points to open the match and the Lions lead eventually grew to eight points when the score moved to 9-1. Catawba showed no quit and chipped away. Later in the set, the Lady Indians went on a 5-0 run behind a pair of kills from Hayes Smith, another kill by Natalie Rehm, and a Dara Kane service ace. The score favored Mars Hill 17-13 after the run. 

The Lions increased their advantage to 20-14 before Catawba went on one last surge. Brenn Ferguson's squad went on a 10-2 tear to take their first lead of the match and force match point with a 24-22 advantage. The Lions were able to close things out by scoring the next five of six points to take set one 27-25. 

Catawba was able to get even in the second set after getting off to a good start. Ashley Johnson and Rachel Gonzales each had a pair of kills to help give their team an early 7-3 lead. Midway through the set, MHU was able to tie things up at 15 apiece before Catawba made another run. The Lady Indians went on a 7-2 swing to regain the advantage, 22-17. Lauren Bodell contributed back-to-back kills and Hayes Smith and Kane had service aces to fuel the run. 

Mars Hill made things interesting at the end of the second set by scoring six straight to go in front 23-22, but Catawba held firm and scored the next three points to win, 25-23. 

The Lions had their best hitting set of the night in set three by striking at a .239 clip on their way to a 25-17 victory. The match moved to a fourth set. 

Set four was another tightly contested exchange between both teams. Catawba got out to a 4-1 lead then, Mars Hill countered to go in front 6-5. For the rest of the set, neither team held more than a two point lead as both sides delivered blows. Late in the stanza, MHU held a 23-21 lead when a kill by Ashley Johnson, an attack error by the Lions, and a kill by Kelcie Love gave Catawba a 24-23 lead. After a timeout by the home team, Mars Hill closed out the game with three straight points to win 26-24. 

Rachel Gonzales ended the night with 13 digs and 23 digs, Johnson had 13 kills and five blocks, while Kary Hales had 33 digs, and Dara Kane sent out 26 assists. 

The volleyball team will be on the court again tomorrow afternoon against the Pioneers of Tusculum at noon.