COLUMBUS, Miss. – The Golden Eagles split a tri-match at the Mississippi University for Women with a 3-0 loss to Westminster College and a 3-1 win over MUW in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) action.
Spalding volleyball holds a 4-7 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the SLIAC after weekend action.
M1: SU vs Westminster
The first match saw eight ties come and go and three lead changes in the opening frame. The Golden Eagles held the lead from the first point, a
Brianna Terpening service ace, until a 5-1 run from the Blue Jays gave them the lead at 11-10. Spalding's offense stalled after scoring the 18th point and let Westminster go on a 4-0 run to clinch the first set of the day 25-18.
Set two saw the Golden Eagles score the first point and then fail to keep up with a hot-hitting Blue Jays squad. Spalding reached double-digit kills in the frame with
Jayda Branch leading the effort with four. WC took the set 25-14.
The Golden Eagles found more fight in the third set with the teams battling to a tie five times. Spalding held the lead as late as 10-8 in the frame, but Westminster went on another large run. A 10-1 run gave the Blue Jays the lead for good in a match-clinching 25-14 win.
M2: SU vs MUW
In the first set of the second match, Spalding spent a large chunk of time playing from behind. The Owls held the lead from the second point of the game until a 5-0 run from the Golden Eagles, featuring two
Ella Clark aces and a
Kendall Mattison block, turned the lead to 21-18 in favor of SU. Spalding kept the momentum and took the frame 25-21.
The second frame was the most back-and-forth of the day. The lead changed hands five times while the squads tied six times. The Golden Eagles led from 2-1 until a 9-1 run from MUW put the home team up 19-17. Spalding got the lead back after back-to-back Branch kills and an error from the Owls. A 3-0 MUW run put SU down again, but five consecutive points secured the second set 25-22 for the Golden Eagles.
Set three featured an impressive comeback but for the wrong team. Spalding led by as many as nine before the Owls had an offensive explosion. MUW scored 11 of the final 13 points of the set in a 25-23 win.
The Golden Eagles took care of the home squad in the final set of the day. A Branch kill put Spalding up 4-3 and SU never looked back. Despite the Owls keeping it close, the Golden Eagles used a 9-0 run to take the final set 25-12 and win the match.
GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES
- Jayda Branch led both matches in kills. She had nine in the first and 20 in the second.
- Branch had a double-double in the second match with 10 digs added to her stat line.
- Spalding's 15 aces against MUW were the most for the Golden Eagles since October 2019.
- Ella Clark led the aces effort with a career-high six in the second match.
- Halle Calbert tied her career-best aces mark with five versus MUW.
- Spalding led MUW in kills (52-34), aces (15-4), assists (40-26), and digs (54-48).
NEXT FOR SPALDING
The Golden Eagles host their first home SLIAC match of the year when Greenville University comes to town on Wednesday. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
