Volleyball team loses five-set match at Alma

ALMA, Mich. – The Olivet College volleyball team lost a hard-fought, five-set Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) match to Alma College this evening at the Art Smith Arena in Alma.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Alma def. Olivet 18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13
Location: Art Smith Arena; Alma, Mich.
Records: 5-2 overall, 1-1 MIAA; Olivet 4-2 overall, 1-1 MIAA

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Scots scored the first two points of the opening set. Olivet then used a 7-0 scoring spurt to surge ahead 7-2. The Comets did not give up the lead for the rest of the set, leading it by as many as nine points.
• In the second set, Olivet had a 9-8 advantage before Alma had its own 7-0 run to take a 15-9 lead. The Comets got as close as three points, 18-15, before the Scots pulled away for the set two victory.
• Alma opened the third set on a 10-0 run. Olivet fought back to trail by only one point, 17-16. The Scots went back up by four, 24-20. Three straight Alma attack errors made the score 24-23. A Scot kill ended the set.
• The Comets had the early lead in the fourth set until Alma came back to take a 10-9 and 12-11 lead. Olivet put the next two points on the scoreboard to go up 13-12. After the Scots tied the set at 14-14, the Comets scored three consecutive points and maintained the lead for the remainder of the set.
• Olivet led the deciding set 2-2. Alma scored the next two points to tie it at 2-2. From there, the teams nearly went point-for-point, causing several more tied scores. Following the last tie at 13-13, the Scots used a kill and then a Comet error to score the winning points.

FOR THE COMETS

• For the match, Olivet totaled 46 kills.
• Senior Re'Gene Thompson led the way with 13 kills, and freshman Madelyn Notenbaum joined her in double digit kills with 10. Freshman Morgan Champion finished with nine.
• Freshman Brittney Prince recorded a match-best eight blocks.
• Senior Danielle Bearden shared match-high honors with 28 set assists.
• Senior Mona Hinamanu had a match-best 24 digs.

FOR THE SCOTS

• Dakota Pelach slammed down a match-high 16 kills.
• Maressa Miller had 28 set assists.
• Dorothy Buening collected a team-best 22 digs.

UP NEXT

• Olivet is back in action tomorrow afternoon with a home match against Hope College. First serve at The Cutler Event Center is 4:30 p.m.