HATTIESBURG, Miss. – WCU Volleyball picked up a huge conference win Thursday night, defeating Blue Mountain Christian in five sets at the Ben Waddle Sports Facility.
 
"It was a barn burner tonight," said Head Coach Ronda Shirley. "Played against a strong Blue Mountain team but fought the fight to win. Really proud of how they responded after being down 1-10 in the second set to win it and put the match at 1-1. We were better from the service line tonight and our right-side offense really stepped it up, especially Maurin Reyes. Very proud of how my team responded and fought."
 
Set one started with both teams' trading points. That was the case until BMCU used an 8-1 run to jump out to a 17-11 advantage. That was all the momentum the Toppers needed, taking the set 25-15.
 
Blue Mountain carried that momentum into the second set opening on a 10-1 run. Carey stayed the course and with the Toppers leading 15-4 WCU found their stride using a 6-1 run to start their comeback. After BMCU broke the run with a kill, the Lady Crusaders answered with five straight kills by Agnes Hegardt and Maurin Reyes with an error cutting the deficit to just one at 17-16.
 
Again, the Toppers broke the run with a kill and Carey responded with six straight points again to take a 22-18 lead. Blue Mountain managed to cut the deficit to two multiple times, but Owens ended any hope of a rally with a kill to give WCU the 25-22 victory.
 
WCU opened the third set taking an early 6-2 lead, but Blue Mountain slowly chipped away at the lead to tie the set at 10. The Lady Crusaders slowed the Topper attack and with the help of four kills, a block, and an attack error, found themselves leading 16-11. Just like before, BMCU slowly chipped away at the Carey lead, taking a 22-21 lead.
 
A kill by Reyes tied the set at 22 but a kill and an error by WCU put the Toppers within one point of victory. Natalie Bartholomew and Hegardt kept Carey alive with a block but like the previous set, a kill from BMCU this time ended any hope of a comeback for WCU.
 
The Lady Crusaders copied what they did in the previous set, taking an early 5-1 lead with the Toppers following suit, chipping away at the lead, tying the set at nine. After trading points, Carey jumped out to a 19-14 lead only to see Blue Mountain again battle their way back to tie the set at 22.
 
The same sequence of events from the previous set followed. Except it was Carey that got the kill, BMCU with the error to put the Lady Crusaders within point of victory, and a kill by the Toppers to keep them alive. The only difference in the final play was an attack error by Blue Mountain, which gave Carey the 25-23 victory and forced the deciding fifth set.
 
For the third set in a row WCU took the early lead. The Lady Crusaders slowly built a 13-8 advantage, but Blue Mountain made things interesting, cutting the deficit to three at 13-10. They would get no closer, as back-to-back kills by Reyes sealed the five-set win for WCU.
 
Carey is back in action tomorrow, as they take on UT-Southern in their final home game of the season. Play is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm at the Ben Waddle Sports Facility.