HENDERSON — Competing for the first time in front of their home fans for a true home match (besides the FHU Labor Day Tournament) the Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions pushed the (RV) Cumberland University Phoenix to the limit in a 3-2 (18-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 23-21) nailbiting loss. In the match senior
Audrey Orton tied her career-highs in kills with 16 while shattering her best mark in digs with 21.
In the first set each team struck early blows until a 10-10 tie turned into a 15-10 lead for the Lady Lions (11-6, 0-1 MSC) thanks to kills from
Audrey Orton and
Iza Wos. A second push came when
Autumn Howard's service ace capped a three-point run to give FHU a 19-14 lead.
Marija Milic closed the book on the first set with a kill and a service ace giving FHU the 25-18 victory.
It was a late comeback in the second frame that sparked life into the visiting CU Phoenix (18-7, 2-0 MSC). After the Lady Lions took an 18-13 lead, the guests began chipping away with back-to-back aces before a block knotted the set at 20-20. The Phoenix pushed the final five points to level the match score at 1-1 with a 25-22 set two win.
The Lady Lions battled back in the third set when kills from
Avery Young, Orton, and
Catherine Hackett pushed FHU out to an 8-6 lead.
Becca Heineman took over later in the set, setting up two assists before a kill of her own gave the Lady Lions a 17-13 edge. The final seven rallies flipped back and forth, but FHU's early lead gave the Lionesses the 25-19 set victory to forge ahead to a 2-1 match lead.
With the Phoenix jumping out to an 18-10 lead a decisive fifth set seemed a foregone conclusion, but FHU's offense ignited with kills from Young and
Hope Breen accompanied by a pair of aces from Orton to pull FHU within one. Cumberland was able to end FHU's run and a block ended the set 25-18 to require a fifth.
The race to 15 was off to a rough start with the Lady Lions committing six service errors to give CU a 13-9 edge. Kills from Wos and Young kept the Lady Lion hopes alive; however Cumberland then sat on match point with three points in hand. A service error gave the Lady Lions the serve to give Young the opportunity to secure a kill before Wos smashed an overpass to tie the set at 14-14. Needing a lead of two, the Lady Lions found themselves with the one-point lead five times but Cumberland had an answer each time. A service ace from UC followed by an attack error ended the long final set and gave Cumberland the victory.
FHU tallied a season-high 62 kills in the match while adding a season-high 56 assists.
Audrey Orton led FHU with a career day - tying her career high with 16 kills while also securing a career-high 21 digs.
Avery Young had a career-best 24 digs to lead FHU's defense while libero
Autumn Howard set a new personal-best with 23.
Hope Breen slammed a season-high 14 kills while
Iza Wos chipped in by tying her career-mark of 10 kills.
Alyssa Austin led with 27 assists with
Becca Heineman right behind with 23.
Up Next
The Lady Lions hit the road again, but not far this time with a trip to McKenzie to face off with the Bethel University Wildcats set to begin on September 26 at 7:00 p.m.
