UHSP Wins Third Set in Loss at CSC

After a week off, the Eutectic women's volleyball team were back in action on Tuesday, traveling to Canton, Mo., to take on Culver-Stockton College for the first of four non-conference matchups on the October schedule. For the third match in a row, the Eutectics rallied from two sets down to win a third set, then dropped the fourth for a 3-1 match loss.

The CSC Wildcats served up 18 aces in the match, including three in a row from Abi Smallwood in Set 1 during a seven-point scoring run for the home team. Down 16-7, the Eutectics were able to rattle off five points in a row off kills from Hanna Burch and Darlene Zediker along with CSC errors. But, the Wildcats responded with another seven-point run, including two more aces from Lauren Bloom to take a sizable lead that would not be surmounted by UHSP. CSC claimed the first set at 25-16.

Set 2 had a similar theme, as the Wildcats scored five points in a row off two Smallwood aces, two kills and a UHSP error to take a 21-12 lead. Kills from Burch and Amber Loo (set by Jenna Brinson) contributed to a four-point scoring run by the Eutectics to get to 21-16. But, the home team won four of the next five points to take the set at 25-17.

The Purple and Gold trailed for most of the third set, but at 20-16, two kills from Darlene Zediker and two attacking errors by CSC evened the score at 20 apiece. Down 23-21, Head Coach Katie Payne called a timeout, setting up another kill by Zediker (assisted by Macy Hendrix) that sparked a four-point run by the UHSP team. Sumanpreet Kaur tied the score at 23-23 with a kill set by Hendrix. Then, two attacking errors by the Wildcats gave the Euts a 25-23 set victory to force a fourth set.

The Wildcats, however, regained the momentum early in Set 4, going up 8-2. Smallwood served up several more points, including two more aces, for the home team before a service error caused a side out at 13-4. The Eutectics were unable to catch the Wildcats, falling 25-13 in the final set.

Darlene Zediker led the Euts with 10 kills on 23 attempts. Jenna Brinson put up 17 assists and Josie Barrand picked up 16 digs.   

Emma Daleen collected 14 kills, while Smallwood finished with eight service aces for the Wildcats.

The Wildcat win snapped a 10-game losing streak for CSC (now 4-18), while adding to the Eutectics' previous five losses in a row (1-22 overall).

On Saturday, Oct. 14, the UHSP team will continue with non-conference competition at a tri-match in Owensboro, Ky. The Euts will face Shawnee State University (Ohio) in a neutral match at 2 p.m., following by a 4 p.m. match versus host Brescia University.