Volleyball team hangs on to beat Albion in five sets

ALBION, Mich. – The Olivet College volleyball team hung on to beat Albion College tonight in a thrilling five-set Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) match at Kresge Gymnasium in Albion. The teams traded wins in the first four sets, with the Comets winning the first (25-22) and third (25-18), and the Britons winning the second (25-15) and fourth (25-22). Olivet won the deciding set, 15-9.

The Comets rallied from a 22-17 deficit to win the opening set, 25-22. The Britons opened the second half with a 6-0 scoring run and never looked back. Olivet trailed briefly in the third set, 3-2 and 4-3, before Olivet scored the next six points to go up 9-4. The Comets' biggest lead of the set was eight points at 24-16.

After a 15-15 tie in the fourth set, Olivet scored five straight points for a 20-15 lead. Albion then rattled off six of the next seven points to tie the score 21-21. Following a 22-22 tie, the Britons took advantage of two Comet attack errors and used a kill to win the set, 25-22.

The teams exchanged the first eight points of the set to make the score 4-4. Olivet had two straight kills for a 6-4 lead, and did not relinquish it for the rest of the set.

For the match, the Comets pounded down 56 kills and had a .119 hitting percentage. Sophomore Emma Brann (Ann Arbor/Pioneer) led the way with a match-high 20 kills and .386 attacking percentage. Freshman Lydia Drikakis (Battle Creek/Lakeview) finished with 15 kills, and junior Stefanie Lang (Valparaiso, Ind.) had 12.

Sophomore Taylor Pringle (Haslett) recorded 48 set assists to go along with 15 digs. Sophomore Megan VanderVlucht (McBain) topped the back row with 23 digs. Drikakis also finished with 19 digs.

Olivet is back action Friday night when it hosts Adrian College inside The Cutler Event Center at 6:30 p.m.