PIKEVILLE, Ky. — The Montreat College volleyball team lost in straight sets to the University of Pikeville Bears on Saturday in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) action. Entering the matchup with a perfect record in league play, UPIKE leaned on its attack and a .363 hitting percentage to win in three frames, 25-10, 25-16, 25-14. With the result, the Cavaliers moved to 5-16 (3-12 AAC) on the year, while the Bears improved to 21-3 (14-0 AAC).
Josie Leatherman opened the contest with a kill off a pass from
Taylor Shaw, and
Elizabeth Harrington added a Shaw-assisted kill of her own to tie the set at 3-3. Continuing her activity early in the frame, Leatherman notched another kill and teamed up with
Madysan Mauney for a block, keeping the Cavs within 10-8 of the hosts; however, the remainder of the set favored Pikeville. Montreat scored just twice more in the frame, with Mauney registering a kill midway through, and a service error accounting for the other score late. Ultimately, the Bears won 15 of the ensuing 17 points to take the initial set, 25-10.
Shaw-assisted attacks enabled Leatherman and Harrington to seize a swift 4-3 advantage for the visitors in frame two. A service error, a Harrington-
Rafaela Scherer block and another attack error later kept the Cavaliers ahead at 7-6. Scherer joined in on the offense, firing off a kill during a 3-0 spurt that expanded Montreat's edge to 11-9. Despite the solid start, UPIKE grabbed control of the set thanks to an 8-0 run. Harrington and
Maggie Furches helped pull the Cavs within 20-16 behind a block, but the Bears rattled off five straight to finish the frame on top, 25-16.
Katie Alexander set up Harrington for the away side's first point of the third frame. The Fairview, N.C. native then assisted Leatherman before ceding way to Shaw, who fired off a service ace to level the score at 3-3. Harrington added two more kills as Montreat stayed within 8-6, but Pikeville's service coupled with Cavalier attack errors helped create separation through the middle of the set. The Bears built a 16-7 lead before growing that advantage to 22-8. Leatherman and
Carly Setterlind contributed some late offense, and a Harrington-Furches block assist supplied some defense, but the damage was already done. UPIKE's 43
rd kill of the match closed out the set, 25-14, and the contest, 3-0.
Statistically, the hosts held the upper hand in hitting percentage (.363 to -.011), kills (43-19), assists (42-16), digs (42-31), blocks (7-4) and service aces (7-1).
Leatherman paced the visitors with seven kills and added one block assist. Harrington finished with six kills and a team-high three block assists, matching Leatherman with 7.5 points. Alexander posted a squad-best eight assists and added four digs.
Allie Anderson collected a team-high seven digs.
Up next, the Montreat College volleyball team heads to Cleveland, Ga., on Tuesday, Oct. 20 for the conclusion of its three-match road trip. First serve between the Cavs and the Truett McConnell University Bears is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
