HATTIESBURG, Miss. – In a thrilling five set victory the William Carey Volleyball Team overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat UT-Southern Saturday afternoon at the Ben Waddle Complex.
 
After the match, Head Coach Ronda Shirley said, "Our last home match of the year ended in true fashion for the Crusaders. We had ups, downs, and had to dig deep to fight to earn the win. It was also a great way for our Seniors to leave their home court with a win. It was an all-around group effort. There were times we had to rely on our pins to steady the offense and then our floor defense to keep us in long rally's.  Both setters did a good job of finding the hot hands and putting trust in our hitters. Very proud of the fight this team displayed…all weekend. It was a great day to be a Crusader."
 
Carey opened play, taking an early 11-7 lead. The Firehawks settled in and with the help of a 5-0 run erased the deficit. Both teams went back and forth leading to the set being tied at 22. It was all UTS from there, recording the next three points to take a 1-0 lead.
 
UT-Southern used that momentum to start the second set on a 7-0 run. The Lady Crusaders slowed the Firehawk attack, closing the deficit to four on two different occasions but could get no closer as UTS took the set 25-17.
 
Trying to avoid the sweep, Carey came out swinging in the third set building an early 13-6 lead. UTS copied what Carey did in the previous set, cutting the deficit to three at 15-12. The Lady Crusaders quickly answered, pulling away to a 22-13 lead with four kills and a block accounting for five of the points. Again, the Firehawks fought their way back to within four only to see WCU take three of the next four points to take the set and avoid the sweep.
 
UTS wasted no time to start the fourth set building an early 9-4 lead. Carey quickly regained their footing and behind an 8-1 run took a 12-10 lead. Both teams took turns with the lead until the Lady Crusaders took a 20-16 lead on the heels of five straight points. The Firehawks would not back down, rallying to get with two at 22-20.
 
Carey mimicked UT-Southern's first set victory, recording three straight points on a kill by Emerald Owens, a service ace by Katarina Vulic, and a block from Maurin Reyes and Agnes Hegardt to take the set and force the deciding fifth set.
 
In the final set, Carey took an early 5-1 lead but three straight points by the Firehawks closed the gap. WCU responded with three straight points of their own to push their lead to four. UTS would not go quietly and trailing 13-10 fought their way back to tie the set at 14. After trading points a kill by Zoie Mitchell again put Carey within one point of victory. With both teams looking for the victory, it was an error by UT-Southern that decided the match to cap off the comeback win for the Lady Crusaders.
 
Carey is back in action Monday, October 27, as they head to New Orleans, La. to take on Dillard University in non-conference action. Play is scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm.