Volleyball Cruises In Opener Over Paine College; Fall In Four Sets Against USC Aiken

AIKEN, S.C. – Catawba College's women's volleyball began the Larson-Ferguson era with a doubleheader at the USC Aiken Invitational on Friday. Catawba split the day after a commanding victory over Paine College in game one then dropped game two in four sets with host Aiken. 

Game 1

The women's volleyball team started 2022 off with an exclamation point with a resounding 25-14, 25-9, 25-12 win over Paine College. Catawba attacked at a .320 clip and never trailed in the contest. Freshman Lauren Bodell got her collegiate career started by collected the first two kills of the season for the Lady Indians, then senior Raytchelle Miranda added two more to help fuel an 8-1 run to open things up. 

Later in the set, freshman Kelcie Love got her first kill to bring Catawba's lead to 12-4. The women's volleyball team went on to take the first set 25-14. 

This was as close as it came for Paine as Catawba limited the Lions to just 21 points over the next two sets. The Catawba serve accounted for 14 points in the game on top of the gaudy .320 hitting percentage leading to a balanced offensive attack. 

Love led the way for Larson-Ferguson's team as she slammed nine kills on 14 total attacks for a .467 percentage and added a pair of service aces with three digs. Ashley Johnson and Lauren Bodell each had five kills, and Johnson was tied with Christina Knotts for the team lead in digs with six in the game. 

Game 2

Seven hours after game one, Catawba took the court to face host USC Aiken. Offense came at a premium in the nightcap as Aiken held Catawba's offensive attack to a .107 hitting percentage and the Pacers recorded 108 digs for an average of 27 per set. 

In set one, the score was tied 4-4 after the opening eight points. Aiken went on to score three straight before Catawba swung back with five in a row after kills from Ashlay Johnson, Kelcie Love, and Rachel Gonzales. Another kill by Gonzales paired with a kill from setter Dara Kane and a USCA attack error gave the Lady Indians a 12-9 lead. The Pacers roared back with a 10-2 run to deflate Catawba's momentum and steal the first set. USC Aiken went up a set-to-none winning 25-21. 

The women's volleyball team responded by opening up set two on a 10-4 run. Six of the first ten points came in the fashion of kills off the arms of Allison Lane, Gonzales, Miranda, and Love. Aiken cut it to a four-point game at 12-8 before Catawba went back up by six, 18-12. 

The Pacers made a charge of six straight points to tie the game at 18 apiece. The remainder of the set was a slugfest as each team exchanged point after point. Catawba faced game-point three different times in the final eight points, but after a bad serve by Aiken tied the game at 26 all, a Sydney Rutledge service ace and a Raytchelle Miranda kill tied the game 1-1. 

Catawba found themselves too far behind in set three after the Pacers controlled things with a 22-10 lead early on. Aiken went up 2-1. 

The volleyball team tried to fight back in the fourth set but managed to tie the score once. Aiken went on to win 25-22 to finish the first day of the tournement 2-0 dropping Catawba to 1-1 on the day. 

The ladies' volleyball team will play next Thursday at the Electric City Invitational hosted by Anderson with a night game against the hosting Trojans at 7:00 p.m.