JACKSON, Tenn. - The Union University volleyball team defeated Mississippi College 3-1 (23-25, 25-13, 25-23-25-13) Tuesday night at Fred DeLay Gymnasium. Union improved to 10-6 on the season and 1-3 in the Gulf South Conference. Mississippi College dropped to 7-7 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Union head coach Darrin McClure said, "I'm just proud of the resilience of this team. Losing the first set could have been hard on us with the results of the last week. We did not defend well early but responded with better defense as we got to the second set. It was good to get the win. We felt like we have play well enough to win our recent matches, but came out on the short end. It was good to finish this win tonight. This weekend will be tough on the road, but any road match is tough in the GSC. West Georgia is athletic and gives teams trouble. We also play a new opponent in a new place that we have never seen at Montevallo. Moving forward, we hope to get two of our injured players back in a couple weeks to help our depth as we move through the GSC."
Union dropped the first set 25-23. The set was back and forth with neither team leading by more that four points at any time. Union trailed 24-21 and scored two points late, but a kill from MC ended the set.
Set two started with Union jumping out to a 6-3 lead early. Union never trailed in the set as they pushed out to a 14-7 lead, forcing a timeout from MC. Union led by as many as 12 points twice in the set, including the 25-13 final.
Set three was bak to a back and forth type of set. Union led 3-1 early, but MC rallied back to lead 8-5. Union responded to tie the set at 10-10, but MC again pulled up by three points. Down 16-13, Union scored seven of the next eight points, including four straight points to regain the lead. Union maintain the lead for the rest of the set including 23-22 late. Union got two straight points to win the set.
With Union now up 2-1, the Lady Bulldogs played that momentum to a 8-1 start in set four. Union matched their largest lead of the night at 12 points twice more including the 25-13 final.
Union was led defensively by libero Taylor Chiaro with 21 digs. She has now posted at least 20 digs in three straight matches and double figure digs in five of the last six matches. Chiaro said, "In this game, we switched to a new defense and it opened up more range for me to move around. The team's blocking has made it easier for me to settle in to the libero position." When asked about getting the first GSC win in the books, she said, "We were excited to get this win. I think we can use this momentum going forward. In the locker room, we talked about not stopping here. We are heading into a tough stretch of games and getting this win will help us."
Katie O'Malley and Christa Karns led with 12 kills each, while Abbie Rahn added 10. Bre Carlton dished out 45 assists, while O'Malley and Chiaro led with three aces each. Union was led in blocks by Karns with six and Rahn with five.
Up next for Union is a pair of road GSC matches starting at West Georgia Friday, September 29 and then on to new GSC foe, Montevallo (Ala.) Saturday at 2 p.m.
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