BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (Nov. 6, 2020) – After winning the first two sets, the Truett McConnell University women's volleyball fell in a five-set Appalachian Athletic Conference battle at Union College on Friday evening (25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 20-25, 10-15). The Lady Bears fell to 11-3, 11-3 AAC on the season, while the Bulldogs improved to 10-4, 10-4 AAC.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
A handful of Lady Bears had career nights. Senior captain Abby Maxwell led the way with a double-double of 57 assists and 40 digs, both of which are Maxwell's new career highs. Additionally, Maxwell recorded her 1,000th career dig (1,039 total) and broke the 2020 season AAC record of most assists in a game by one. Last season, Maxwell set the conference record with 56. Fellow senior captain Hannah Conners followed defensively recording her career high of 35 digs. Leading the offense was sophomore Ranavia Neal, who had a career high of 19 kills.
 
Freshman Sonya Silecky also had a career high double-double of 17 kills and 21 digs. Fellow freshman Jordan Roberts' 15 kills was a career high and junior Bethany Ross contributed 10 kills. Freshmen Rachel Kessler and Madyson Dunn rounded out TMU's career highs on the night. Kessler tallied 16 digs, while Dunn had 13.
 
Overall, the Lady Bears outshined the Bulldogs in the kills and digs columns. TMU recorded a total of 71 kills, in comparison to Union's 49, and a total of 144 digs, while the Bulldogs had 119.
 
SET BY SET
The Lady Bears closed out the first set on a 3-0 scoring run, sparked by a Roberts kill, to claim their first win of the night (25-22). The second set saw Union unable to gain any type of lead, while the Lady Bears led by as much as five. Similarly, to the first set, TMU fastened their second and final win of the match on a 3-0 run (25-22). However, it was only up from there for the Bulldogs.
 
The third set was the tightest race of the evening as both teams went back and forth the entire way. Trailing by one (23-24), TMU attempted to defend but the Bulldogs claimed their first victory of the night on a kill (23-25). Union went on with the momentum to open up the fourth set with six unanswered points (0-6) and rallied to record a 9-0 scoring run to lead by as much as 12 (8-20). Though the Lady Bears held Union at point 24 for five points to get within four (20-24), Union eventually forced the match into a fifth set with their second win on a TMU attacking error (20-25).
 
Though TMU trailed by one (10-11), the Bulldogs ultimately did not allow the visiting Bears any more points as they snapped TMU's 10-game win streak in the fifth set on a 4-0 run (10-15).
 
UP NEXT
TMU returns home to the TMU Volleyball/Wrestling Arena to host Milligan University on Monday, Nov. 9, at 6:30 p.m., and Columbia International University on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 6:30 p.m.