GREENSBURG, P.A. – The Medaille College women's volleyball team closed out their season on Saturday at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. The Mavs lost to the Bobcats in a five-set thriller bringing their record to 4-17 on the season and 1-7 in conference play.
Medaille lost the first two sets 17-25 and 23-25 before rallying together and taking the next two sets 25-22 and 25-23. The Mavs ran out of steam in the fifth set and lost 9-15.
The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead in the first set with three straight kills while committing zero hitting errors until the middle of the set. The Mavs fought back to get the score within two points at 8-10. Junior
Halle Bogas (Cleveland, OH, Normandy) continued to impress with four kills in the set to keep the game within reach. The Bobcats capitalized on Maverick hitting errors to take the first set 17-25.
In the second set, Medaille made a statement early from a well-executed offense by
Haley Kennedy (Chestermere, AB, Chestermere). Bogas and Kennedy combined with multiple Bobcat hitting errors to get the Mavs to a 12-4 lead.
Chase Luebeck (Troy, IL, Triad) and
Chelsea Prescott (Coupeville, WA, Coupeville) both added a few timely kills to keep the Mavs rolling. The Bobcats slowly chipped away at the Medaille lead by siding out quickly. With the score tied at 23, the Bobcats took the next two points from a missed serve and a bad set by Kennedy.
The Bobcat momentum transferred into the third set where they jumped out to a 6-1 lead.
Baylee Romano (North Collins, NY, North Collins) and Prescott helped shift the momentum in favor of Medaille with two serve aces from Romano and two kills from Prescott. The Mavs took the next nine out of 10 points giving Medaille a 19-16 lead. The Mavs held onto the lead and with a late Prescott kill, the Mavs won the set 25-22.
The fourth set proved to be another close battle. There were multiple lead changes throughout the set as neither team could gain much separation. Bogas shined with two aces and five kills while Kennedy found a way to score three times to break up the Bobcat rallies. With the game on the line tied at 23, Bogas scored back-to-back kills to take the 25-23 win.
The Mavs ran out of steam in the fifth set despite strong hitting from Luebeck and Prescott. The Bobcats put the pressure on early to go up 10-5. This lead proved too much for the Mavs as they dropped the set 9-15.
Kennedy had one of her best match performances with 38 assists, nine kills (.318), three aces, and 11 digs. Bogas led all hitters with 15 kills, followed by Prescott with 10 and Luebeck with nine.
Olivia Anderson (Mayville, NY, Chautauqua Lake) led the defense with 24 digs while Romano chipped in 14 digs and two aces.
The season has come to a close for the women's volleyball team as they look to build around their strong foundation for next year.
