Lions Fall to Trojans in Four

MARS HILL, N.C.-- Mars Hill's volleyball team took the first set against Anderson Friday evening, but the Trojans rallied back for a four-set victory in a South Atlantic Conference match in Stanford Arena.

The Lions took the first set 25-23, but AU came back to take the last three sets by a 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 margins. Shannon Gillespie's 25 kills and 16 digs paced Anderson, while Hailey Pittman added 18 kills on a .432 hitting percentage. The duo combined for 69 percent of Trojan kills in the match. Marissa Wixson notched 21 kills and 13 digs for her second-consecutive double-double and eighth of the season for MHU. Mars Hill falls to 14-9 overall and 12-7 in SAC matches. The Lions are in fourth place in the conference. Anderson improved to 13-11 overall, 12-6 in conference play- good enough for third in the SAC.

Maggie Murphy added a match-high 35 digs for the Lions. Toni Cole and MaryKate Griffin each supplied 13 kills offensively. Hannah Wilson notched her first double-double of the season with 26 assists and 17 digs.

The Trojans outhit Mars Hill by a .244-.168 margin and had seven blocks to Mars Hill's two. Meghan Cautero notched 52 assists and 15 digs. Libero Alix Hooker added a team-high 25 digs.

Mars Hill did not trail in the first set on their way to the 25-23 victory. The Lions led by as much as six at 20-14 after a block by Victoria Kaiser. A kill by Wilson later restored MHU to a 22-16 lead. AU rallied to cut their deficit to one on an ace by Gillespie, but a kill by Griffin gave the Lions the opening set.

The final three sets were all Trojans. AU did not allow MHU to hit higher than .206 the rest of the way after the Lions opened the first set by hitting .300. The duo of Gillespie and Pittman combined for 36 of their 43 kills over the final three sets. AU outhit the Lions by a .419-.098 margin in the final set.

Mars Hill returns to action Saturday, Nov. 9 at 5:00 p.m. for a non-conference match against Milligan. The team will honor seniors Hillary Gambrell, Toni Cole, Marissa Wixson and Maggie Murphy as they play the final home match of their Lion careers.