Volleyball: Comets split two four-set matches at MIAA-HCAC Challenge

N. MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Olivet College volleyball team split two matches against Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference rivals today at the first day of the MIAA-HCAC Challenge at Manchester (Ind.) University. In their first match of the 2014 season, the Comets fell to Franklin (Ind.) College in four sets (16-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-17). They bounced back to defeat Manchester in four sets (25-27, 25-10, 25-15, 25-14).

No stats from the match vs. Franklin are available at this time.

Against Manchester, senior Stefanie Lang pounded down 16 kills, with only three errors on 32 attempts for a .406 hitting percentage. She also had three solo blocks. Junior Marissa Guile was next with seven kills, followed by sophomore Re'Gene Thompson with five. Thompson and sophomore Gabrielle Trudell each had two solo blocks and two assisted blocks.

Senior Taylor Pringle and sophomore Danielle Bearden split time at the setter position, recording 17 and 13 assists, respectively. Freshman Courtney Cronkright and sophomore Mona Hinamanu finished with 12 digs apiece.

Against Franklin, Lang had a match-high 12 kills, followed by Guile with nine. Thompson and Trudell each had six. Freshman Allison Turner contributed five kills. Pringle dished out 23 assists, while Hinamanu recorded 23 digs.

Action from the MIAA-HCAC Challenge resumes tomorrow morning. The Comets will play Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology at 11 a.m., followed by a match vs. Anderson (Ind.) University.