HENDERSON — The Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions (3-5) opened up their second day of the FHU Labor Day classic with a gritty 3-2 loss against University of Pikeville (3-1) (Ky.) on Saturday in five sets (25-19, 20-25, 18-15, 25-18, 16-14).
After dropping the first set, Freed-Hardeman used a balanced offensive attack primarily off the swings of Audrey Orton and Alanys Ruiz Rivera.Â
The Lions gutted out a strong third set - aided by a stretch of four consecutive serves by Avery Harris to take and keep the lead for the rest of the third set. Pikeville answered back with a strong fourth set to force a tiebreaker. The Bears responded by taking the win in the fifth set.Â
Avery Young recorded 15 kills while Orton and Ruiz Rivera joined her in double figures. Similarly,
Charley Fulton notched 26 digs on the defensive side, where she was joined by Ruiz Rivera and
Autumn Howard with 11 and 10 digs, respectively. With a .261 hitting percentage, the Lady Lions had a better rating than UPIKE's .244, Â but had trouble defending the serve of the Bears who notched 14 aces.Â
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The Freed-Hardeman volleyball team (4-5) won its closing match of the FHU Labor Day Classic on Saturday evening with a 3-0 sweep over the University of Tennessee Southern (1-4).
(25-16, 25-21, 28-26)
The Lions cruised in the first set, using excellent leadership and communication to take it to 25-16.Â
FHU and UTS traded runs in the second set, as the maroon and gold saw their early lead slip to a 17-16 deficit. Catherine Hackett, Avery Harris, Audrey Orton, and Avery Young played a crucial role combining for nine kills to get us out of the hole and earn the second set win.Â
A similar script followed in the third set, with Freed-Hardeman grabbing an early lead before the Fire Hawks held the advantage (23-22). FHU took the final points with kills from Alanys Ruiz Rivera, Morgan Jackson, and Orton.Â
From the service line, Ruiz Rivera tallied five aces and Orton tacked on nine kills. Charley Fulton earned 16 digs while Masey Kate Adams and Alyssa Austin combined for 34 assists.Â
Up Next
You can catch the Lady Lions away this Thursday at Central Baptist (Ark.) College at 6:00pm.
