BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — After drawing the No. 7 seed in the Mid-South Conference Volleyball Tournament, the Lady Lions of Freed-Hardeman University faced the (RV) University of the Cumberlands Patriots. The second-seeded Patriots swept the Lady Lions 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 26-24) to end the 2024 campaign.
The Lady Lions (14-17) got off to a great start by winning the first three points of the match thanks to kills from
Avery Young and
Audrey Orton. The Patriots answered with a 3-0 run of their own before a kill from
Iza Wos broke the UC run. Cumberlands used a furious hitting attack with a match-high 16 kills in the first set to jump out to a 21-11 score. Fighting back strongly, the Lady Lions raddled off six consecutive points including a pair of kills from
Alanys Ruíz Rivera and
Alyssa Austin before an
Autumn Howard service ace saw FHU narrow the gap to 21-16. FHU was unable to narrow the lead any further with UC winning the first set 25-17.
After Cumberlands (31-4) won the second set 25-11, FHU fought valiantly to keep their season alive. With FHU and UC combining for 31 kills in the third set, the finale saw 20 ties and 10 lead changes. Neither team would hold service for more than three rallies when an ace from
Avery Harris knotted the game at 8-8. FHU made it to a 24-22 set point, but the Patriots stamped out the comeback bid by scoring four consecutive points to end the match 26-24.
Alanys Ruíz Rivera led the FHU attack with 14 kills at a .324 clip.
Audrey Orton shattered her career high by pulling up 16 digs to go with her seven kills.
Charley Fulton tallied 10 digs while
Alyssa Austin recorded a double-double with 26 assists and 10 digs.
