ELIDA, Ohio— On Friday night, the Montreat volleyball team competed at day one of the Racer Classic, hosted by the University of Northwestern Ohio. Facing a pair of foes from the Great Lakes region, the Cavaliers came up short in a five-set nail-biter versus Huntington (Ind.) before falling in three sets against Lawrence Tech (Mich.). With the defeats, the Cavs' record fell to 1-4 overall.
 
Huntington (3-6) took the initial four points of the opening set, but the Cavaliers responded quickly with a 7-0 run of their own to seize an early advantage. Montreat carried that lead until late in the set when a strong Foresters' attack—Huntington had 21 kills in the first frame—rattled off a 6-1 run to tie things up at 24 apiece. The Foresters even had a chance to claim the set with a 26-25 lead, but thanks to Katie Dickey's six opening-frame kills and eight HU attacking errors, Montreat won four of the final five points and edged out the Foresters, 29-27.
 
In set No. 2, it was Montreat who grabbed the initial momentum as Kamryn Wolf's three early kills put the Cavs ahead immediately, 7-2. The Cavaliers dominated the second frame, leading from beginning to end and growing their lead to as large as 11 in the process (22-11). Wolf's six kills paired with a .207-to-.129 team hitting percentage advantage helped Montreat coast to a 25-15 win and a 2-0 set edge.
 
The Foresters gave the Cavaliers' attack fits midway through the third frame of action. Huntington scored 10 of the first 14 points and held Montreat to a negative hitting percentage until the 24^th point of the set. While the Cavs made a late push to tie the frame at 24 after facing four set-points, the Foresters did just enough to survive by taking a 27-25 triumph.
 
Huntington carried its momentum from a critical third-set win into the fourth frame, blowing open a sizeable 16-8 edge over the Cavaliers via a .550 hitting percentage. A pair of Dickey aces—she had six aces in the match—brought Montreat back within shouting distance, but the Foresters' lead was too great to overcome. Ultimately, Huntington forced a decisive fifth set with a 25-14 win.
 
Montreat started the fifth set out in front, with back-to-back Taylor Rouse kills putting the Cavs ahead by three (4-1). After Huntington erased the Cavalier lead, a pair of Wolf kills once again had Montreat in front by a trio of points (7-4). From there, the Foresters found their groove. Behind 11 kills and a .409 hitting percentage, Huntington tallied nine of the next 10 points and took the contest via the final frame, 15-10.
 
Wolf led all attackers with 17 kills, while Dickey chipped in with 13 kills and 24 digs. Reese Davis also added 28 assists.
 
Lawrence Tech (5-5) set the tone for Montreat's second match with a fast start in the opening frame. The Blue Devils not only claimed five of the first six points, but they vaulted out to a 13-4 advantage by hitting .500 while simultaneously holding Montreat to a negative attacking percentage. LTU continued to grow its lead as play went on, ultimately claiming the initial frame by a 25-10 score.
 
In the second set, the Blue Devils managed to double up the Cavaliers on seven consecutive occasions from 8-4 to 20-10. Behind 14 kills and a nearly unstoppable attack, Lawrence Tech seized a 2-0 set lead thanks to a 25-14 frame.
 
Montreat played its best set of the second match in the third and final frame. The Cavaliers registered 14 kills and utilized a 4-0 run with Destini Phifer serving to catapult out to a 13-9 edge—Montreat's lead grew to as large as five (19-14) in the frame; however, two Lawrence Tech runs snatched the set away from the Cavs, including a 6-1 run to end the match with a 25-23 LTU victory.
 
Wolf paced Montreat in the second match as well, this time with eight kills. Dickey supplemented the Cavalier attack with seven kills, while Shalice Lynch added six kills. Alivia McNally recorded 14 assists, and McKinley Edmondson totaled 10 digs.
 
"Although the outcomes were not what we wanted, we were able to build on the connections we've made and create new ones on the court," said interim head coach Brittany Carpenter. "We have made improvements on making quick changes on the court to get out of serve receive quickly and disperse our offense a little more evenly. I'm excited to see what we do tomorrow."
 
The Montreat volleyball team closes out the Racer Classic tomorrow with two more matches. At 1:00 p.m., the Cavaliers battle Goshen College before taking on the tournament hosts, University of Northwestern Ohio, at approximately 3:00 p.m.