Volleyball sweeps Columbia in AAC showdown
WEST POINT, Ga. (Oct. 8, 2022) - The Point University volleyball team returned to action Saturday afternoon at the West Point Park Gymnasium for an Appalachian Athletic Conference matchup against Columbia College and came out of the match with a sweep.
Play-by-play (25-12, 25-21, 25-15)
The Skyhawks started the first set with every intention to attack and succeeded with a 6-1 start before the Koalas called the first timeout. Following the timeout, the Skyhawks continued their hot start as Kelsey Turner, and Mackenzie Littrell added the next two kills for Point. As Columbia looked to find their way back, they suffered three points on the opposing end after two attack errors and a service ace from the Skyhawks to extend the score to 12-3. The Koalas returned with getting the next two scores would be halted by kills from Littrell and Abigail Hardwick. On the next play, Jadakate Judkins and Hardwick added a block to push their lead to 10. Columbia took advantage of a service error along with two kills on their end to bring the deficit back to seven. The Skyhawks remained focused as Judkins, and Hardwick notched the next two points for the Skyhawks with kills along with three miscues from the Koalas to bring their lead to 20-8. A service error and an ace gave Columbia the next two scores as they hoped to push for a comeback to freeze the Skyhawks from any other momentum. Hardwick answered the bell for Point by tacking on three more kills to now lead 23-12. The Koalas' offensive ended the set with two errors to now trail going into the next set.
The second set looked different for both teams as Columbia took the first lead with two kills for an early 2-0 lead. Point returned the favor as kills from Whitney Ward, and Kelsey Turner added two scores for the Skyhawks. Both teams continued to trade leads back and forth, with the Skyhawks even taking a 10-7 lead until the Koalas brought the deficit to one. A service error from Columbia started a 5-0 run for Point as Hardwick continued her hot streak by adding another kill along with a kill from Daixa Andujo. The Skyhawks pushed their lead to seven with another kill from Hardwick, along with an attack error from the Koalas, which forced Columbia to call a timeout. Turner added to the deficit for Point with two more kills to bring the score to 20-13. Columbia cooked up a quick 5-1 run after errors from the Skyhawks, along with fiery attacks on the offensive end. With the score now being 21-18, Littrell tallied another kill for Point, and the Koalas were not able to get the ball over the net, which gave the Skyhawks another score. Columbia followed with a 3-0 run to bring the game back to within two. As the game near the final point, the Skyhawks ended the set on the next two scores with kills from Ava Clay and Sarah Baucham.
Point started set three with a 6-1 lead, which caused the Koalas to use their first timeout. The Skyhawks continued to keep their foot on the gas as Turner added to the score for the Skyhawks, which was then followed by a service ace from Emma Parker. Columbia continued to find ways to slow Point down on offense but would suffer two errors to bring Point's lead to 11-4. Zoe Jackson from the Koalas returned with a kill of her own, but the Skyhawks countered by adding three points from the firepower of Hardwick, along with two more errors from Columbia. Following their timeout, Hardwick, Baucham and Turner rallied the Skyhawks with a pair of kills to extend their lead to 11. The Koalas were able to gain their focus by taking the next two scores to bring the deficit to single digits. The Skyhawks notched a 4-2 run to now be two points away from the deciding point with a 23-12 lead. Columbia added three more scores to cut the Skyhawks' lead back to single digits, but an assist from Linda Schiller to Daixa Andujo ended the match to complete the sweep.
In the box
Abigail Hardwick led the Skyhawks with 12 kills, and Kelsey Turner followed with 10. Mackenzie Littrell also contributed six of her own. Jordan Palmer continued her ways on defense with 25 digs. Paige Lowe dished out 28 assists and tallied 12 digs on the evening.
Up next
The Skyhawks will return to action for an AAC matchup on the road against Truett McConnell Tuesday, Oct. 11, starting at 6:30 p.m.