Essentials:
Score: Huntingdon 3, Berea College 0; (25-15, 25-19, 25-20)
Score: Berea 3, Brevard 1; (25-14, 25-18, 29-17, 25-16)
Records: Berea (2-8, 1-1 USAS), Brevard (0-12, 0-2 USAS), Huntingdon (8-6, 2-0 USAS)
Berea, KY. – The Berea women's volleyball team hosted their first USA South conference tri-match Saturday afternoon at the Seabury Center. The Mountaineers faced conference opponents: Huntingdon College and Brevard College. Berea would split the games by falling to the Hawks of Huntingdon (3-0) and defeating the Brevard Tornadoes (3-1).
The Mountaineers started the day against the Hawks and the first set was strongly influenced by Huntingdon. However, Berea responded with eight team kills and ran off a four-point run when the Hawks were looking to run away with the set. Huntingdon got on an early run, but the Mountaineers cut the deficit to one mid-way through the opening set (14-13), but Huntingdon pulled away to win 25-15.
The second set, Berea came out with some fire. For most of the set, the Mountaineers and the Hawks traded points back and forth until the two teams were even at 16. The Hawks put together a string of dominant scoring plays that gave them the advantage and the second set 25-19.
The Huntingdon Hawks started the third match hot, opening on a 3-0 run, but Berea sparked some energy with Eliza Lavin serving 3 consecutive points to even the score at 4-4. This final set continued to be hard fought with the Mountaineers staying right with the Hawks. Ultimately, Berea's efforts couldn't take down Huntingdon and the Mountaineers were defeated in three straight sets.
Hannah Headrick led the offense with nine kills, while Carolina Robles had nine assists and Jonesy McGregor added seven. Eliza Lavin finished with 12 digs and McGregor followed her with 10. Kristin Barnes and Addie Bowman each picked up nine digs, while Katherine Gonterman had a season-high seven blocks for the Mountaineers.
The next contest for Berea featured conference foe the Brevard Tornadoes. The first set, Berea came out determined to play better than during their previous match-up. The team's effort had a big part in that. Right out of the gate, the Mountaineers got their lead out to 11-2 over the Tornadoes. Brevard never found their game and were defeated in the first set 25-14.
The second set, Berea continued to dominate and had a steady lead throughout. The set ended with a final score 25-18. Brevard took the third series in dramatic fashion. The Tornados forced an overtime to knock down the Mountaineers 29-27.
However, Berea came out in the fourth set with a vengeance. An early Brevard lead could not hold the Mountaineers back. After a back-and-forth stretch during the set, Berea ran away to defeat the Tornadoes 25-16.
Gonterman and Headrick each tallied 11 kills in the victory. Robles led the setters with 15 assists with another nine coming from McGregor and Bowman. Three Mountaineers picked up three aces each including Madeline Hicks, Barnes and Bowman. The defense was huge this game for Berea with six Mountaineers in double digits in digs.
The Mountaineers will take the court again at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday on the road, to face conference opponent Maryville College.