Lions Drop Contest to Catawba In Five Sets

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller against Catawba on Friday, October 28 inside Chambers Gymnasium. The Lions fell to 6-17 overall and 5-11 in the league, while the Indians improved to 11-10 overall and 9-7 within the conference with scores of 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, and 15-9.

Outside hitter Mary Kate Griffin posted a double-double with a game-high 16 kills to go along with 23 digs. Rebecca Butler produced another solid performance with 15 kills of her own. Maddie Spurgeon chipped in 11 kills, while Sara Fahrenbrook added 54 assists and Victoria Kaiser posted 38 digs.

Catawba jumped out 7-3 early in set one, but the Lions clawed back to take an 11-9 lead following an 8-2 run. From that point the set would see six ties before Catawba took 16-all game and turned it into a 22-17 lead. The Indians would go on to take the first set 25-21.

Set two was evenly paced from the beginning. Catawba led 9-7 before MHU reeled off five straight to take the lead 12-9. CC tied the set at 12, but that would be the closest it got as Mars Hill evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 set win.

After the Lions jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the third set, Catawba quickly erased the deficit and took a 2-1 match lead with a 25-23 frame win.

Just like so many times this year, the Lions were on the brink of defeat and fighting to force a fifth set. With extra energy and drive, MHU took a 6-6 set and turned it into a 15-9 lead, forcing a timeout by the Indians. Coming out of the break the Lions improved the lead to 17-10 and was within one point (24-18) of forcing the decisive fifth. However, Catawba did not want to go quietly, staving off three set points in a row before a kill from Griffin sent the match into the final stanza.

Set five mirrored the first four in the beginning with it being back-and-forth. With the score knotted at 4-all, Catawba went on a monstrous 8-0 run to take a commanding 12-4 lead. The hole was too deep to dig out of as the Lions dropped the fifth set 15-9.

Mars Hill will return to action tomorrow as it travels to Queens (N.C.) to take on the Royals. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.