Mars Hill closes out regular season with dominant win over Cobras
The Mars Hill volleyball team (15-14, 12-10 SAC) ended the 2019 regular season with a straight sets victory over Coker (7-20, 4-18 SAC) Saturday evening.
MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill volleyball team (15-14, 12-10 SAC) ended the 2019 regular season with a straight sets victory over Coker (7-20, 4-18 SAC) Saturday evening.
After giving up the first point of the first set, the Lions went on a 12-1 run with Sarah Goddard knocking down five kills in that span. Sally Anne Johnson recorded three. The Lions, on two separate occasions, held a 15-point lead, including late in the set, up 21-6 before the Cobras reeled off five straight points, cutting the deficit to ten. Goddard's seventh kill of the set secured the 1-0 lead for Mars Hill.
In the tightly contested second set, the Cobras led for a majority of the stanza, carrying a 16-15 lead midway through. The Lions battled late, stringing together a 6-1 run to go up 21-17. Coker would go on to tie the game at 22, but Mars Hill's 3-1 run at the end sent them into the third set up 2-0.
The Lions mirrored their first set performance, closing out the game with a 25-13 third set victory. Mars Hill hit .452 in the final frame. Coker's Taylor du Bray recorded her 11th kill of the contest in the third, giving her 1,000 career kills.
du Bray led Coker with 11 kills and added five digs. Chelsey Blume finished with 10 kills while both Emily Everton and Gabrielle Milo led the Cobras with 10 digs apiece.
Goddard led all players with 15 kills and added 13 digs for the double-double while hitting .424 on the day. Johnson hit .667, registering 10 kills on 15 swings and adding four blocks. Lauren Phillips led the team with 15 digs.
Ully Martins recorded 10 digs on the day and ended the regular season as the South Atlantic Conference's leader in digs per set (5.77) and digs (595).
Mars Hill earned the number five seed in the upcoming SAC Volleyball Championship tournament. The Lions will travel to Jefferson City to take on Carson-Newman on Tuesday, November 19 with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. The two teams split their meetings during the regular season.