Volleyball wins thriller in opener, earns Vette City split

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - It didn't take long for Union College to see its first nail-biting finish of the 2022-23 athletic season.

In the opening match of the year for both the team and the school, the Bulldog volleyball team fought back from two separate match points in the fourth set, then surged late again in the fifth to earn a thrilling 20-25, 25-23, 17-25, 28-26, 15-12 win over Mobile (Ala.) at the Vette City Classic Invitational Friday.

It was one of two matches the Bulldogs took part in on the day. In the second, a strong McPherson (Kan.) team had too much fire power, sweeping Union 25-16, 25-14, 25-14.

It looked as if things had slipped away from the Bulldogs in the opener. Needing a win to stay alive, Union had a 23-18 lead in the fourth set, only for Mobile to score seven of the next eight points to reach match point. But the Bulldogs were able to stay alive following a Rams service error, and after Mobile retook the lead 26-25, they did it again, tying the match on a Raquel Kessler kill.

Union then took advantage of Mobile sloppiness to force a fifth set, clinching the set-four win on back-to-back Ram attack errors.

Things went back-and-forth again in set five before Union closed things out with a match-clinching 3-0 run. This one was started by an Emily Schumaker kill. And as was the case in the previous set, the decisive points came via consecutive hitting errors by the Rams.

Kessler and Schumaker led the attack with 13 and 11 kills respectively. Maddy McGaughey had 24 assists while Cami Timm chipped in 13 digs and four of the nine aces Union landed from the service line.

The first set against McPherson looked to have the makings of another thriller, as Union battled to a 13-13 time, only to be outscored 12-3 the rest of the way. A pair of Alison Smith kills kick-started an early 4-0 run in the second set, but McPherson pulled away again, thanks largely to an 8-0 run down the stretch.

That momentum carried over into the third set, as McPherson jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never trailed en route to the sweep.

Smith had a team-best five kills in defeat, with three other Union players adding four.

The Bulldogs will return to action with two more matches on the final day of the Vette City Classic Saturday. They face Florida College at 10 a.m. and Bethel (Tenn.) at 3 p.m.