RALEIGH, N.C. Taking on Meredith College in the First Round of the USA South Volleyball Tournament, the Methodist volleyball team suffered a 3–0 road loss on Tuesday evening. This was the third meeting between the two teams this season and the first time that the home team prevailed in the matchup.
Final scores: Meredith def. Methodist, 3–0 (25–23, 25–21, 25–19)
Records: Methodist 15–16, Meredith 19-11
Location: Weatherspoon Gymnasium; Raleigh, North Carolina
How It Happened
It took Methodist a while to get going on Tuesday as the team saw Meredith take a 10–2 lead. The Monarchs put their second timeout to use while trailing 16–8, and Methodist put together a 7–2 run coming out of the break that included a pair of kills by
Addison Johnson. Kills by
Jamie Holton and
Savannah Hovander helped pull the Monarchs within one, making the score 20–19, but the comeback proved to be futile given that the Avenging Angels never yielded the lead.
The Monarchs won the first point of the second set and briefly passed the lead back and forth with Meredith. Johnson tied the set for the fifth time with a kill that made the score 5–5, but soon the Avenging Angels started to pull away, winning nine of the next 12 points. Methodist claimed six of the next eight, punctuated by another pair of kills from Johnson, but the Monarchs still trailed 16–14 and ultimately were unable to catch up to Meredith for the second straight set.
Methodist never tasted the lead in the third set despite continuing to hang close early on. Holton recorded back-to-back kills that pulled the Monarchs within one point (9–8), but Meredith captured nine of the next 12 points to make the score 18–11. Holton finished the set with six kills and ended the night with a team-best 15.
Highlights
Faith Driver led the team with 19 assists, while
Mary Miller's 13 digs were a team high also. Johnson's 10 kills were second-most on the team.
At 15–16 overall, the Monarchs reached 15 wins or better for the third consecutive season, while the team's 10–8 record in conference play marks the third straight year with a winning record versus USA South opponents in the regular season.
