Panthers Outlast Golden Eagles
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Spalding (4-8,3-0) | 22 | 14 | 19 | 0 |
|
Greenville (6-5,2-0) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Two undefeated conference teams met on Tuesday night in the SLIAC Game of the Week with Greenville University outlasting visiting Spalding University in a 3-0 win. The host Panthers won 25-22, 25-14, 25-19 to extend their winning streak to a conference-high three games. The win also extends the Panthers' conference winning streak to 26 matches, dating back to March 2021.
With a raucous crowd, the Panthers scored the first four points of the match and opened up a 9-2 lead. However, the youthful Golden Eagles did not quiver and fought their way back, tying the set at 11 apiece. The set featured four ties but Greenville never surrendered the lead. With the score tied at 20-20, Mia DeJesus put down a kill on an over ball to give the Panthers the lead for good. A service error and attack error handed Greenville the final two points of the set for the win.
Jumping out to a 7-3 lead in the second set the Panthers put together their best hitting performance of the night with 13 kills and a match-high .212 hitting percentage in the set. Meanwhile, Spalding had its worst set of the evening with six kills and nine errors.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair with Spalding taking its first lead of the match at 5-4 after a Greenville attack error. An ace by Ella Clark put Spalding up 16-15 and an attack error by the Panthers gave the Golden Eagles its largest lead of the evening. However, Greenville responded with three straight points, two off swings from Mia Bonacorsi, to grab the lead back.
Three of the final four Panthers points came off attack errors by Spalding as Greenville secured its 7th win of the season and improved to 3-0 in SLIAC play. Greenville hit .180 in the match with Sacorra Patton leading the way with 12 kills and Mia Bonacorsi adding 11 kills and 15 digs. Kaitlin Murray finished with 20 assists and 11 digs while Chasity Hill had 16 digs.
Spalding hit -.034 in the match with Jayda Branch leading the team with nine kills. Ella Clark added 17 assists and Brianna Terpening totaled 14 digs.
- #SLIACtion -
