HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Lady Crusaders took care of business in their home opener against Point University, defeating the Skyhawks in four sets Friday evening at the Ben Waddle Complex.
Carey got off to a shaky start in the first set, finding themselves in an earlier 8-2 deficit. WCU found their footing, cutting the deficit to two points on a 4-0 run and on multiple occasions got within one point.
With Point leading 17-15, back-to-back kills by
Riley Carter and
Sofia Bettini followed by an attack error gave the Lady Crusaders their lead of the set. From there each team took turns with the lead until WCU picked up a kill by
Agnes Hegardt to tie the set at 23 all with back-to-back errors by the Skyhawks sealing the come from behind victory.
The Lady Crusaders got off to a much better start in set two, scoring four of the first five points to take the early lead. Point slowed the run, battling to within one at 8-7 but four attack errors, two kills, a block, and an ace broke the set wide open for the Lady Crusaders, pushing their lead to 16-7.
After trading shots, the Skyhawks attempted a late rally to get within four points at 18-14. Carey quickly shut down any hope for a comeback, pushing their lead to eight behind a 4-0 run. A kill by Carter put WCU within point of victory with an attack error giving Carey the 2-0 lead.
Point came out swinging in set three, jumping out to an early 6-2 lead. The Lady Crusaders settled back in, battling to within one point on multiple occasions. Each time though, the Skyhawks countered to pull away, eventually taking a 17-13 lead. From there, Point extended that lead to 21-14 before going on to take the set 25-18 and avoid the sweep.
Carey quickly shook off the third set loss, opening the fourth on a 12-3 run. During the run, Carey recorded five aces and five kills with a block and an error accounting for the other two points. It was all Carey from there, as they did not allow the Skyhawks to get any closer than six points on their way to a 25-15 victory.
WCU returns to action Friday, September 12, as they head to Montgomery, Ala. to take on Faulkner University in SSAC play. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
