Maryville, TN- The volleyball team went back on the road this evening after hosting a tri-match at the Seabury Center this past weekend. Today's match saw the Mountaineers stay in conference play as they visited the Maryville College Scots.
After a kill by Isis Hill to bring Berea within one point of the lead in the first set, the Scots scored eight straight points to give themselves a nine point advantage, 10-1. The lead would be too much for the Mountaineers to overcome as they fell in the first set, 25-9.
The second set saw Berea open with a 3-1 lead thanks in part to a service ace from Destiney Balser. Another service ace, this time from Mersiha Mustafic, broke a 4-4 time to keep the lead in favor of the Mountaineers. Unfortunately for Berea, the tide of the match changed in favor of Maryville, with the Scots scoring nine of the next ten points to take a 13-6 lead. Berea accumulated a match-low three kills in the second set, leading to a 25-11 defeat, giving Maryville a 2-0 set advantage.
Back-to-back kills from Caitlyn Miller and Katherine Gonterman helped Berea move out to a 3-1 lead in the beginning of the third set. After seeing their lead disappear and a three point deficit on the scoreboard, Gonterman finished off a pass from Balser to get a kill and bring the Mountaineers within two points of the lead, 6-4. Maryville scored the next seven points to take and Berea was unable to rally a comeback, losing the match 3-0 with a 25-7 third set loss.
Kristin Barnes led the team in kills with six while Balser aided the offense with 12 assists. Defensively, Bailie Parker finished the match with 15 digs for the Mountaineers.
The road trip continues for Berea as they travel to Demorest, GA to take on USA South opponent, Piedmont College. The day was originally supposed to consist of a tri-match before the cancellation of one of the other teams involved changed it to a single match. First serve for the match is scheduled for 12:00 PM tomorrow (Saturday) and you can follow live statistics by visiting the home of the Mountaineers, www.bereaathletics.com.