Jonesboro Times

Lady Pioneer Volleyball took the court today in Temple Terrace FL as they kicked off their weekend in the CAC Classic hosted at Florida College. The Pioneers had the 3:00pm & 7:00pm slots today for competition. CRC would go winless on day one of the tournament. Game one, CRC would be swept by Iowa Wesleyan and then in game two, the 'Neers would fall after a four set dual with Florida National.

Game One

CRC-0

Iowa Wesleyan-3

Set one, CRC would find themselves in a tight match against the Lady Tigers of Iowa Wesleyan, but a kill from Jr. Hannah Halverson would give the Pioneers the advantage 6-5 early on. This would be the only lead the Pioneers would have in set one. They would bring the score within one on two different occasions with a kill from So. Alexis Weirich and then later on in the set with a second kill from Jr. Emi Elms. A late Tiger run would put the Pioneers away in set one, 19-25.

Set two, the Lady Tigers jumped ahead with a 5-0 run to start the set. Back to back blocks from sophomores Paige Glenn and Alexis Weirich midway through the set would rally a 3-0 run from the Pioneers. The Tiger attack would not be fazed by this as they would produce a 17 kill set, which would be enough to take set two for Iowa Wesleyan, 25-19.

Set three, Iowa Wesleyan would again muster a 17 kill set against the Pioneer defense. Before long the Tigers would reach a 10-2 lead. Fr. Kinley Matlock, who led the Pioneers in digs, would keep the attack at bay long enough for So. Jadyn Hesse to set several Pioneers up for success. The Pioneer attack would shine at times including a late 4-0 run but would fall short. Iowa Wesleyan would win the third set 25-18.

Leaders:

Emi Elms led in kills (9). Jadyn Hesse led in assists (18). Kinley Matlock led in digs (23), followed by Jadyn Hesse (13), Heather Conaway (10). Paige Glenn led in blocks (4).

Game Two

CRC- 1

Florida National-3

Set one, CRC would produce its best set of volleyball of the night. Even with falling behind 7-2 early on the Pioneers would come together and play ball. The change of momentum to the Pioneer side would come after CRC linked 4 kills together late in the set. So. Alexis Weirich would start the trend and she was followed by juniors Emi Elms, Hannah Halverson and finally Brookylnn Passmore who gained the lead back for the green and black. They would keep the lead the rest of the set, winning it 25-22.

Set two, the Pioneers would face a tougher Florida National defense. Juniors Emi Elms and Brooklynn Passmore would slam one kill each midway through the set to bring the score within one, 9-10 with Florida National in the lead. The Pioneers wouldn't be able to string anything else together as the Conquistadors would be tough at the net defensively and offensively, busting out a 10-0 run. This would prove too much as the Pioneers fell in set two 14-25.

Set three, both teams would fight for the advantage as things were even with one set each. CRC opened up with a demanding lead 14-6 with a kill from Jr. Hannah Haverson to top it off. Florida National would regroup and produce a much needed 7-1 run putting them back in the set, trailing CRC 13-15. CRC's So. Paige Glenn would answer with two kills but the momentum train couldn't be derailed and Floriada National would retake the lead and eventually the set 25-20.

Set four, with energy behind them, the Conquistadors continued the attack creating a gap in the score with an early lead of 14-4 over the Pioneers. The Ladies in green dug deep and went on their longest run of the night with a 6-1 attack cutting the score to 10-15. As Florida National tried to counter the CRC defense would stand firm allowing sophomores Jadyn Hesse and Alexis Weirch to link up for back to back kills cutting the gap to 16-19. As brave as this effort was, the Conquistadors would slam 5 kills late in the set, proving enough to take it 25-20.

Leaders:

Paige Glenn led in kills (12). Jadyn Hesse led in assists (30). Kinley Matlock led in digs (22), followed by Hannah Halverson (14), Heather Conaway (13), Jadyn Hesse (11), and Holly Berry (10).

Original source can be found here.