Volleyball Goes 2-2 at Catawba Valley Invitational
Spartanburg, SC - The Pioneers traveled to Catawba Valley Community College for their annual 2 day tournament on Friday October 5th and Saturday Oct 6th. SMC faced South Florida State College and Lansing Community College the first day. Then had to face Lake-Sumter State College and Cape Fear Community College.
The Pioneers played well but dropped in four sets to South Florida State with scores of 21-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-25. Claudia Casey led the team with 11 kills, 3 solo blocks, and 6 block assists. Other middle blocker Ally Ruiz added another 8 kills hitting .500, as well as Molly Mather with 8 kills, hitting .300. Leslie Williams and Kameron Neese held down the back row with a combined 38 digs.
Following the South Florida State match, the Pioneers played Lansing Community College. Once again Claudia Casey led the team with 9 kills hitting .500. Ally Ruiz added another 8 kills. However, SMC could not find a way to win the match. The scores were as follows: 17-25, 16-25, 16-25.
On Saturday, SMC saw better outcomes against Lake Sumter first and then Cape Fear Community College second. The Pioneers came from behind winning 3 sets to 2 after being down 0-2 in the match against Lake Sumter for the win. Match scores were 21-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-17, and 17-15. Aeyane Mattress led the Pioneers with 20 kills and added 22 digs. Casey too was a huge point scorer, adding 15 kills, 3 solo blocks and 4 block assists. Mather and Quinna White each added 9 kills and Asya Louden had 7. Defensively yet again, Leslie Williams kept the ball off the floor with 53 digs, over 10 per set. Kameron Neese added 22 digs and 35 assists.
The last game for the Pioneers was against Cape Fear Community College. SMC finished on a strong note winning in three sets with scores of 25-18, 25-21, 25-16. Aeyane Mattress led the team with 13 kills and Claudia Casey added 8. The team as a whole hit .245 and had 7 aces with 59 digs. Alisabeth Kneece hit 1.000 in both games and added 3 solo blocks and 6 block assists.
You can continue to follow the Pioneers as they play at home Tuesday October 9th against USC-Lancaster at 6 PM. They then head to Alabama to be a part of the Wallace State Fall Bash where they will face Wallace State, Catawba Valley, Monroe, and Vincennes.