Volleyball Splits Matches With Asbury And Piedmont

DEMOREST, Ga.- Off the heels of their five set victory at MUW on Wednesday, Huntingdon Volleyball hit the road for a CCS tri-match with Asbury and Piedmont hosted in Demorest, Georgia, where the Hawks fell to the Eagles 3-0 before recovering with a 3-0 sweep of the host Lions. 

Match One v. Asbury

Asbury set the tone in their 3-0 sweep over Huntingdon with a 25-22 opening set victory. The Hawks came out of the gates a little slow, recording an equal number of kills and errors at 7 to get things going. In spite of the slow statistical start however, Huntingdon held the lead early on in the set- grabbing an 11-5 advantage following Lindsey Holland's kill. Nonetheless, the Eagles responded with a 11-3 run that put them in front 16-14, and they never looked back as they moved in front 1-0. 

Following up on their come-from-behind first set victory, Asbury closed things out with a second set win of 28-26, grabbing the third as well by a score of 25-18. Through the remainder of the match, the Hawks couldn't keep pace at the net, recording 28 kills to the Eagles 35 and commiting an extra error. That being said, the Hawks held onto a slight lead at several different points in the contest, including a 22-20 lead in the second set they couldn't quite hang on to. Sophomore Morgan Suggs continued her stellar play this season in spite of the loss, recording a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs.  She would be the Hawks lone double-digit scorer in the match, with Aly Harris picking up 8 points to be Huntingdon's second leading scorer. 

Match Two v. Piedmont

Looking to avenge their loss earlier in the afternoon, Huntingdon opened their sweep over Piedmont with a 25-18 first set victory. Led by Suggs once again, the Hawks secured a match-high 14 kills to go with just four errors in the set, starting their trend of double-digit kills per set in the contest. Boosted by an 8-3 run that got things started featuring kills from A'Kirra McElveen, Cheyenne Ashworth, and Lindsey Holland, the Hawks grabbed an early lead and never looked back en route to a 1-0 lead. 

Keeping their momentum, Huntingdon grabbed a second set victory by a score of 25-21. Once again limiting the Lions to just 9 kills for the set, the Hawks turned defense to offense, securing another double-digit kill set with 12. Rather than holding the lead from end-to-end this go around, Piedmont managed to secure a 16-13 lead midway through the set. Led by Aly Harris and Morgan Suggs however, the Hawks stormed back, outscoring the Lions 12-5 coming down the stretch to go ahead 2-0. 

Not leaving anything to chance, Huntingdon completed their sweep and secured a third victory over Piedmont this season with a 25-15 third set victiory. The Hawks flew out of the gates in the set, making the most of 3 errors from the Lions en route to a 7-0 start that, following a series of aces from Lauren Mason, turned into a 16-3 advantage. Piedmont tried to stage a late comeback, but the Hawks held on, capitalizing on 2 of the final 3 serves to walk away with the win. 

Hawk Top Performers

• #28 Morgan Suggs- 9 kills, 15 digs
• #11 Lauren Mason- 3 aces, 24 digs
• #33 Cheyenne Ashworth- 5 kills, 3 digs
• #18 Lindsey Holland- 7 kills, 4 digs

The Hawks return to Roland Arena on October 22nd, hosting LaGrange College. Gametime is set for 6:00 PM CT.