BLUEFIELD, Va. -- The Bluefield College volleyball team closed its five-game homestand on Saturday morning, being defeated 3-1 (21-25, 23-25, 25-15, 16-25) by the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan College in an Appalachian Athletic Conference meeting.
Bluefield (1-10, 0-5 AAC) and TWC (5-9, 3-2 AAC) battled closely in the opening two sets before BC broke out in the third set with a healthy 25-15 margin of victory to spoil the sweep. However, the visitors answered back in the fourth set with a hearty 25-16 win of their own to take the match.
The teams stood square at five early in the first set before the Bulldogs ran off four-straight points. BC fought back with junior
Jasmine Morrow's serve, as she used back-to-back aces to pull Bluefield back within six, 22-16. The Lady Rams tallied two more points with Morrow on the service line, but TWC closed out the opening match with a 25-21 win.
Bluefield doubled up Tennessee Wesleyan 8-4 quickly in the second set, but the Bulldogs closed the deficit to just one at 9-8. BC maintained its narrow lead, but TWC eventually squared the set late at 21-21. From there, the Bulldogs outscored BC 4-2 for the 2-0 lead.
Head Coach
Jim Butski's squad came out firing in the third set, posting the team's best hitting percentage for the game at .294. The Lady Rams' early attack helped BC gain an 11-6 lead to force a TWC timeout. But, the play stoppage couldn't halt BC's charge, as the squad reeled off a 10-3 run to open the advantage to 21-9. TWC posted several late points, but Bluefield earned the 25-15 set win.
The teams played closely once again in the fourth set, and stood tied at 12-12. But, TWC held BC to just four points the remainder of the set to take a 25-16 win and 4-1 victory.
Morrow had 12 kills and four service aces on the offensive side, while also tallying 14 digs and a pair of blocks on the day.
Lexie Austin added six kills, hitting at a .462 clip, while
Marissa Grice had three kills on just five attempts (.600). Grice also added 19 assists for the game, while
Kaitie Shaver tallied 10 more.
Hannah Winter led BC with 17 digs.
Bluefield now returns to the road, playing 11 of its next 14 matches away from the Dome Gymnasium. They hit the court again on Tuesday, traveling to face Montreat College at 6:30 p.m.
