BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- The Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions volleyball team saw their 2023 season come to an end on Thursday at the Mid-South Conference tournament, falling to the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) in straight sets (25-20, 25-16, 25-10). 

Seventh-seeded FHU (13-16) got on the board first after Avery Young's attack found the hardwood to register her first of a team-high eight kills. Avery Harris would take over the scoring, first recording a block before her kill tied the first set 16-16. After trading blows with the No. 2 seed Patriots, FHU saw the UC rattle off four straight sets before the Cumberlands took the set 25-20.

Audrey Orton landed a service ace in the early goings of the second frame, helping the Lady Lions jump out to a 6-3 lead over the Patriots (22-10); however, UC answered with seven unanswered points to stun FHU and take a 12-7 lead. The closest the girls in maroon would get would be when Alanys Ruíz Rivera teamed up with Ann Elise Jackson to record a block, but the deficit was too large to overcome with CU claiming the second set 25-16.

FHU fell behind early in the third set, with UC having three different attackers register kills to open. Trailing12-5, the Lady Lions were unable to keep their season alive as the Patriots scored in nine consecutive rallies to take a 21-5 lead. Ruiz Rivera would connect for a pair of late kills, but the season came to a conclusion with the Cumberlands winning the set and match 25-10.

Avery Young lead the Lady Lions with eight kills, while Masey Kate Adams racked up a team-high 14 assists. Charley Fulton led the defense with 19 digs, with Ann Elise Jackson finishing with three blocks.

Jackson ends her career with 317 blocks, landing in fourth place on the all-time stuff leaderboard at Freed-Hardeman.

Fulton's 465 digs in the 2023 season was the eighth-most ever collected by a Lady Lion in a single season.