Volleyball: Olivet beaten by Alma in epic five-set match

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College volleyball team lost an epic five-set match to Alma College tonight at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.  The Comets won the first set, 26-24, before the Scots won the second set, 25-14. Olivet rallied to take a two sets to one lead with a 25-20 third-set win. Alma forced a deciding set with a 32-30 win in set four and then won the match with a 15-12 victory in the fifth set.

The Comets led the first set 19-14 until the Scots scored five straight points to force a 19-19 tie. Olivet went on a 4-0 run to take a 23-19 lead. Alma fought back with a 5-0 run to take a 24-23 advantage. The Comets scored the final three points of the set to win it 26-24.

The Scots led the second set from start-to-finish. Alma seemed to be in control of the third set, holding a 12-9 lead. Olivet then scored six of the next seven points to take the lead back, 15-13, and did not give it up for the rest of the set.

Alma held a five-point lead, 19-14, in the fourth set. The Comets responded with six consecutive points to take a 20-19 lead. The Scots tied the set at 20-20. The teams continued to trade points and keep the match alive. After the last tied score 30-30, Alma got two straight kills to end the set.

Olivet took a 5-3 lead in the fifth set. The Scots came back to tie the set at 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7 before taking a 10-8 lead. The Comets did not give up and tied the set 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12. Alma used two Olivet lift calls to gain a 14-12 lead before a Comet attack error was match point.

For the match, the Scots had 61 kills with 32 errors on 179 attempts for a .162 attack percentage to 46 kills, 33 errors and .078 attack percentage for Olivet. Senior Stefanie Lang led all players with 19 kills. Freshmen Courtney Cronkright and Allison Turner and junior Marissa Guile each had six kills. Guile also served a team-leading three aces and recorded four blocks, including two solo.

Sophomore Gabrielle Trudell also had four blocks. Sophomore Danielle Bearden and senior Taylor Pringle split time at setter, recording 21 and 17 assists, respectively. Four Comets reached double figures in digs, led by sophomore Mona Hinamanu's 23. Cronkright was next with 16, followed by junior Dallas James (11) and Pringle (10).

Olivet (2-7, 1-4) MIAA) travels to Albion for tri-match Saturday, starting at noon. The Comets play the host Britons in a MIAA match, followed by Earlham (Ind.) College in a non-conference match.