Volleyball Drops Close Contest Against Johnson

Written by Baylie Davis

ATHENS, Tenn.- The volleyball team took to their home court Tuesday for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) match against Johnson University. After four close sets, the Lady Bulldogs were unable to pull through and lost to the Royals 3-1.

In the first set, two back-to-back kills by Amya Sutton gave the Lady Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. The Royals pulled ahead 11-7 but kills from Megan Lee and Megan Tracy and a block from Shante Smith kept the Lady Bulldogs close behind. After exchanging points the rest of the set, the Royals were up 24-17, but an error from the Royals kept the Lady Bulldogs alive on set point. However, they were not able to capitalize on the error and lost the first set 25-18.

In the second set, after going down 2-0, TWU took a 3-2 lead with a kill from Smith, an ace from Megan Thompson, and a block from Sutton. The competitive action remained as each team scored points throughout the set, which resulted in a fight to see who would take the lead. Finally, with the Lady Bulldogs leading 23-22, back-to-back kills from Smith gave them the set two win.

Early in the third set, the Royals held a seven-point lead, but Tennessee Wesleyan did not give up. Down 19-15, the Lady Bulldogs went on a five-point run to take the lead with a kill from Tracy, three errors from the Royals, and a block from Olivia Miller. However, after exchanging points, the Royals had the advantage on set point and won the third set 25-23.

In a nail-biting fourth set, the Royals held a four-point lead early on which would be the biggest lead they took. Throughout this back-and-forth set, the Lady Bulldogs took the lead five times and tied the game 11 times. After a five-point run with back-to-back kills from Tracy, a block from Miller, an ace from Lee, and an error from the Royals, the Lady Bulldogs took the lead for the final time. With set point on the horizon, the Royals crawled their way back to win the final set 25-23.

Sutton led the team with a career-high 20 kills while Tracy was not far behind with a career-high 15 kills in the match. Bailey Dalton had a career-high 27 assists.

Tennessee Wesleyan returns to their home court Friday for another conference match against Kentucky Christian University at 6:30 p.m.