Pioneers Get in a Groove at Home

Pioneers Get in a Groove at Home

The Spartanburg Methodist College volleyball was back in action this holiday weekend as they hosted the SMC Invitational. This weekend’s matches included Cape Fear (NC), Walters State (TN), Denmark Tech (SC), Daytona State (FL), and USC Union (SC). The Pioneers went 3-1 in a demanding fashion, only losing to #19 Daytona State over the two days and swept their other opponents.

USC Union & Daytona State

The Pioneers new lineup proved to be effective as they hit over .400 in sets one and two. Outstanding hitting performances by FR MB Kendall Meinders, SO MB Tori Barr, and FR RS Kaitlyn Starks paced the offense. Meinders was effortless as she had six kills on six attempts with no errors. The Pioneers were also aggressive from the serving line as the squad had four aces. SO setter Ashley Gagnon contributing two of those on her own.

The only loss for SMC came from Daytona State out of Florida. SMC struggled to match the pace the Falcons were running their offense at. The Pioneers battled in the first set and fell short at 21-25. With a combination of unforced errors, and letting Daytona going on long runs, SMC would lose 25-17 and 25-14 in the second and third.

Walters State & Denmark Tech

To start the second day of the SMC Invitational, the Pioneers had to face Walters State out of TN. They had previously beat Cape Fear CC on Friday in a tightly contested five sets. Cape Fear had beaten the Pioneers in four just two weeks ago. After a gutsy 25-23 first-set victory, SMC kept the foot on the gas and played great defense to take drastic leads in the second and third set. Benchmark performances by FR OH Aurora Aho, FR L/DS Delaney Castro, and smart setting decisions by SO Ashley Gagnon and FR Tayla Reini made all the difference for the team.

To wrap up the tournament, SMC faced Region X opponent Denmark Tech. The Panthers had not won a set all weekend giving different members of the Pioneer volleyball team an opportunity to step up. FR OH Kylie Ward Miller and FR OH Mya Johnson were on fire for the outside position while FR L/DS Sydney Shuttleworth paced the defense as the libero for the match. The Pioneers swept them in a convincing three sets.

“I am extremely proud of how this group responded to this weekend. The chemistry, effort, and intention behind each match was a complete 180 from how we began our season. As always, we still have much to improve and work on, but overall, every win this weekend took all 16 players and I couldn’t ask more than that as their coach. I am excited to get back to work and see what this group can achieve next.”