KINGSPORT, Tenn. (November 10, 2023) – On Friday, the Truett McConnell University women's volleyball team traveled to compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament, where the No. 5 seed Lady Bears battled No. 4 Reinhardt through five intense sets, ultimately falling by slim margins to a match score of 3-2 (17-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-14, 13-15). TMU concludes their season with an overall record of 22-12, 14-6 AAC.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Set one began with the Eagles first on the board, but TMU quickly responded with a kill by Katie Williams. TMU continued to work as kills be Sonya Silecky and Ranavia Neal evened the score. A seven-point rally by RU ultimately proved enough as the Lady Bears fell in set one, 17-25. A kill by Williams began set two, but RU fought back. A solo block by Neal and a block assist by Neal and Jordan Roberts attempted to push the Bears ahead, but was short lived as the Eagles took set two, 18-25.
The Lady Bears began set three with a dynamite kill by Neal. A five-point rally by the Eagles attempted to take control of the game, but proved to be unsuccessful as a six -point rally by TMU, featuring kills by Madyson Dunn and Silecky, paired with a service ace by Deomi Valmus, pushed the Lady Bears ahead. A final kill by Williams and back-to-back service aces by Emma Boland was the missing piece in set three as the Lady Bears recorded a comeback win with a score of 25-20. Set four saw RU first to take the lead, until a four-point rally by TMU, featuring a kill by Williams and a service ace from Rachel Kessler put the Lady Bears ahead. TMU showed no mercy at the end of the set as a kill by Silecky sealed the deal for a second win for the Lady Bears (25-14).
The final set saw the Eagles first on the board with a six-point rally. TMU worked hard to recover as back-to-back block assists by Neal and Rylee Simpson and Neal and Silecky, paired with back-to-back kills by Neal decreased Reinhardt's lead to one. Two final kills by the opposing team saw the fate of set five as the Lady Bears fell to a score of 13-15.
LEADERS
Williams led the way for the Lady Bears with 14 kills and two block assists. Neal followed with 12 kills, three block assists and one solo block, while Roberts recorded eight kills, five block assists and one solo block. Silecky was seen tallying seven kills and three block assists, while Simpson tallied 36 assists on the evening.
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