PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-16, 25-14 and 25-18) to the Our Lady of the Lake Saints on Saturday at Gene Rushing Court at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
Kourtlyn Smith and
Alanah Dugar paced Louisiana Christian (5-16, 4-8 RRAC) with eight kills apiece, with Smith hitting .368 with just one error in 19 attacks.
Emma Cother directed the offense with 22 assists and added six digs and two service aces.
Yadneli Molina led the back row with eight digs, while Dugar contributed five digs and two block assists.
Kylie Elmore served an ace to put the Wildcats ahead 5-4 in the opening set. After falling behind 9-5, the Wildcats worked back within 11-10 on a
Mallory Wills kill off a Cother assist. LCU remained within three at 17-14 before surrendering four straight points to Our Lady of the Lake (14-12, 10-4 RRAC), including three consecutive points on blocks. An LCU attack error ended the set.
The Wildcats faced a 14-5 deficit in the second set but scored four consecutive points, capped by a Cother ace, to pull within 14-9. A four-point response pushed the deficit back to nine. Dugar later delivered consecutive kills, both assisted by Cother, to make it 21-14 before LCU yielded the final four points.
LCU produced its strongest offensive set in the third, recording 11 kills and hitting .231. Trailing 16-7, the Wildcats strung together four points, with Smith finishing the run on a Cother assist. Dugar and Wills then combined for a block that narrowed the gap to 17-13. LCU surrendered the next five points but continued playing through match point, with Dugar putting away another Cother assist to make it 24-18 before the match ended on the next rally.
Holly Rowe and
Joie Goodwin added three kills each, while Wills finished with two kills, an ace and two block assists. The Wildcats totaled 28 digs and three blocks but committed 18 attack errors and 14 reception errors. LCU finished with a .098 hitting percentage and five service aces.
The Wildcats head on the road next weekend for a pair of games with the current leader of the Red River Athletic Conference, Texas A&M-Texarkana. The first game of the weekend pair against the Eagles (14-8, 13-1 RRAC) is set for 4 p.m. Friday at the Patterson Student Life Center.
