Alice Lloyd Volleyball Hosts Weekend Conference Series

 Pippa Passes, KY: Over the weekend, the Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles volleyball team hosted two of the River States Conference's traditionally strongest squads. On Friday, September 15^th, the powerful Rio Grande Red Storm (OH) came to town, and on Saturday, September 16^th, the Point Park University Pioneers (PA) visited Caney Creek. Both contests were tough, and the final results favored the visiting teams.

September 15th

Rio Grande-3; ALC-0

Against the Red Storm (8-3; 2-0 RSC), in set 1, the contest was close early. However, with the scoreboard reading 4-4, Rio would proceed to roll off a 10-2 run to pull ahead 14-6. They would then steadily pull away and take the win, 25-11.

In set 2, ALC put up a battle and would trail around six points most of the match. Later, with the visitors leading 18-12, the Red Storm would close the game on a 7-4 run on their way to the 25-16 decision.

In set 3, RGU showed why they sport an impressive record and lead the RSC Eastern Division. The Red Storm exploded out of the gate on a 14-1 blitz and rode that momentum all the way to a 25-7 match-clinching victory.

For the match, the Ohio squad would produce 35 kills compared to the Eagles 16, and lead in digs (42-23) and assists (36-12).Individually for Alice Lloyd, Taylor Hamilton led ALC (2-10; 0-1 RSC) with 7 assists, and Taylor Cox chipped in with 3. Kyleah Ward paced the club with 6 kills, and Tianna Wesley added 3. Akira Keathley had the lone block, while Hamilton had the squads only ace. 

 September 16^th

Point Park-3; ALC-1

The first three games were nail-biters before the Pioneers finally put away their plucky foes in game four.

The opening set saw PPU pull out to a 10-6 advantage only to watch the Lady Eagles come back to knot the score at 15-15. The clubs changed scores until, with Point Park clinging to a 22-21 lead, three ALC errors gave the visitors the win, 25-21.

In set 2, the Pippa Passes team was determined to tie things and sprinted out to a 10-4 lead. However, the Pennsylvania squad stormed back with an 11-5 burst of their own to take their first lead, 15-14.

From there, the fans were kept entertained as the two combatants exchanged points. Later, when Lady Eagle Caroline Parsons delivered a huge kill, it would give her crew a late 23-22 lead. Disappointingly, the big-city ladies would sandwich an ace around two kills to pull out the win, 25-22. 

In set 3, the Eastern Kentucky crew vowed not to go down in straight sets, and the two equally matched teams delivered a highly entertaining game. The conference foes literally alternated points until the score read 16-16. Finally, the Pioneers had the first run of the game and crept out to a 21-18 lead. When all seemed lost to the home fans, the Caney Creek crew answered.

Kills from Wesley, Ward, and Brooklyn Cheek, combined with an ace from TK Ellis, gave the hosts a 22-21 lead. After Point Park recaptured the advantage with back-to-back kills (23-22), ALC received a kill from Cheek, an ace from Ward, and a kill from Ward to win the thriller, 25-23.

Unfortunately, in set 4, the Lady Eagles finally looked to run out of steam. The Pioneers opened this game with an uncharacteristic 10-1 run, and despite continuing to give a good effort, ALC (2-11;0-3 RSC) could never recover. PPU (3-5; 1-1 RSC) would maintain their advantage all the way to the finish line, and they finally took the match in the only easy game of the series, 25-8.

On the day, the victors would produce 61 kills compared to the host's 41 and win in digs (71-57), assists (59-37), and hitting percentage (27.7% to 18%). Individually, Kristen Isaac led ALC in assists with 18, while Hamilton added 11. Ward and Wesley paved the way in kills with 13 and 7. Ellis and Parsons were the dig leaders, with 15 and 12 while Ward, Ellis, Issac, and Gracie Gibson each provided an ace.