MONTGOMERY, Ala.- Looking to build off of their 3-0 sweep of Oglethorpe University a day ago, Huntingdon volleyball returned to action at Roland Arena this evening, this time facing the Bruins of Bob Jones University. Boosted by a 25-15 opening set victory, the Hawks extended their winning streak to two with a 3-1 victory over their NCCAA opponent.
The Hawks flew out of the gates to start the match, winning the first set 25-15 after picking up a match-high 16 kills. Led by a collection of Hawks, most notably Morgan Suggs, Aly Harris, and Molly Wilson, Huntingdon broke things open with a 9-0 run to take a 13-1 lead early. The Bruins made attempts at a comeback, going on a late run of their own to cut the deficit to 24-15, but it proved to be too late, with a service error giving the Hawks a 1-0 advantage.
The second set proved to be much more contested, as Huntingdon narrowly escaped with a 28-26 victory to go ahead 2-0. Committing a match-high seven errors in the set, the Hawks led 9-6 early, but eventually faced a 15-11 deficit. Huntingdon eventually regained the lead 18-17 following a service error, but coming down the stretch, the two squads continued to exchange blows, with Huntingdon's break coming beyond the 25 point mark, as Aly Harris and Sara Cochran picked up consecutive kills to close out the set.
Not to be outdone however, Bob Jones stormed back to win the third set by a score of 25-20. The Bruins were hot offensively, recording their match high of 13 kills in the set to go along with just two errors to lead from end-to-end. At one point, the Hawks faced a deficit as large as 17-10 following three consecutive aces, but Lindsey Holland managed to bring Huntingdon back within five, 19-14 late. Nonetheless, the Bruins held on, and closed things out with another kill to force a fourth set.
Similar to the second set, the fourth proved to be a back-and-forth affair, but Huntingdon managed to piece it together late en route to a 25-21 set victory and a 3-1 match victory. Bob Jones captured their third set momentum and used it to generate offensive production early on, moving in from 7-3 as things got underway. The Bruins held on to their lead through the majority of the set in fact, before 6-1 Huntingdon run, spearheaded by Sara Cochran and Lily VanDyke, gave the Hawks a 20-18 lead. Once in front however, the Hawks never looked back, with two Lindsey Holland kills closing things out.
Hawk Top Performers
The Hawks look to keep rolling as they kick off the Millsaps Invitational tomorrow, September 12th, with a match against the University of Dallas. Gametime is set for 7:00 PM CT.