Women’s volleyball team loses five-set thriller to Kalamazoo

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College women's volleyball team let a two-set lead slip away in a five-set loss to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) foe Kalamazoo College tonight at the Cutler Event Center. The Comets won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-19 and the Hornets won the next two sets 25-16 and 25-17. Kalamazoo then won the deciding set 16-14.

• Final Score: Kalamazoo defeated Olivet 18-25, 19-25, 25-16, 25-17, 16-14
• Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 3-15 overall, 1-3 MIAA; Kalamazoo 5-11 overall, 3-2 MIAA

• The Comets built a four-point lead, 8-4, early in the first set. A 6-0 Hornet run put them ahead 10-8. Olivet countered with its own 6-0 spurt to go up 14-10. Kalamazoo closed the gap to a single point twice. After the last time at 15-14, the Comets used a 7-0 run to take control of the set.
• In the second set, Olivet led by three points on three occasions – 3-0, 8-5 and 10-7. The Hornets came back to level the score at 10-10. A service error and kill put the Comets back on top by two points, 13-11. After a Kalamazoo kill, Olivet went on a 5-0 run to extend its lead to six points, 18-12. The Comets did not give up the lead for the rest of the set.
• Olivet had the advantage for the first half of the third set. Trailing 12-11, the Hornets scored six straight points for a 17-12 lead. Kalamazoo held the lead for the rest of the third set.
• The teams traded 2-0 runs to start the fourth set before a Hornet 2-0 spurt made the score 4-2. A 3-0 Comet run put them ahead 6-5. Kalamazoo answered with four consecutive points to take a 9-6 lead. The Hornets maintained the lead for the remainder of the set to force the deciding set.
• Kalamazoo quickly led 12-6 in the fifth set. Olivet fought back with a kill by senior Ellie Louiselle, two service aces by junior Emily Keeler and two Hornet attack errors to make the score 12-11. A Comet attack error pushed Kalamazoo's lead back to two points. The Hornets served the ball into the net and then hit the ball out-of-bounds to even the score at 13-13. Kalamazoo got to match point with a kill before a Louiselle kill tied the score at 14-14. Back-to-back Hornet kills ended the match in their favor.

• Olivet totaled 50 kills in the match compared to 46 for Kalamazoo. The differences in the match were the Hornets served three more aces (14 to 11) and had more blocks (13 to 5).
• Junior Olivia DuFore led all players with 17 kills.
• Freshman Hannah Pratt and Louiselle also reached double digits in kills with 12 and 11, respectively.
• Senior Kennedy Blackburn dished out a match-best 35 set assists. She also had four kills on 10 attempts.
• Senior Jill Arends provided a match-high 26 digs.
• Keeler served five aces and had 18 digs.

• Ann Lawrence tallied 11 kills.
• Charlotte Ruiter was next with 10 kills.
• Jana Molby and Sara Reathaford split time at setter, registering 20 and 18 assists, respectively.
• Hailey Johnson posted a team-leading 17 digs.

• The Comets face their toughest competition of the season next Wednesday, October 12, when No. 8-ranked Calvin University visits the Cutler Athletic Complex. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m.