Volleyball picks up two wins at Coastal Georgia

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (Sept. 3, 2022) – The Point University volleyball team traveled to Coastal Georgia on Saturday to compete in a tri-match with the Mariners and Savannah State. The Skyhawks faced Coastal Georgia first and defeated the Mariners 4-1 before facing Savannah State and picking up the victory 3-0.

Match against Coastal Georgia (14-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-23)

After dropping the first set against the Mariners, the Skyhawks bounced back with a vengeance and won the next three sets to earn the victory. In the first set, Coastal Georgia led 16-13 before closing the set on a 9-1 run to take an early lead.

In the second set, Point led 15-10 before going on a 7-2 run to extend its lead to double figures. The Skyhawks would lead by no less than nine to close the second set.

The third set was back-and-forth, featuring 12 ties and five lead changes. The Skyhawks trailed 19-17 before a kill from Sarah Baucham, and a Mariner attack error tied the set at 19. Back-to-back service errors would tie the set at 20 before an attack error and a kill from Keylany Matos helped Point take the lead for good.

The Mariners quickly jumped out to an 8-3 lead before the Skyhawks answered with a six-point run to take the lead 9-8. Both teams were back-and-forth, with Coastal Georgia taking a 23-20 lead, looking to send the match into a fifth set, but the Skyhawks closed the set by scoring the final five points to earn the victory. Back-to-back kills from Mya Sterling and Mackenzie Littrell started Point's rally, an error from Coastal tied the set, and then a kill from Matos and an ace by Whitney Ward secured the win.

The Skyhawks recorded 55 kills, with Sarah Baucham and Littrell leading the way with 12 and 11 apiece. Littrell also led at the net with four blocks. Ward followed with nine, adding on 15 digs. Jordan Palmer led Point's defense with 26 digs, and Paige Lowe recorded 45 assists. The Skyhawks finished with a .254 kill percentage.

Match against Savannah State (25-13, 25-20, 25-17)

The Skyhawks closed their trip to Brunswick by facing Savannah State and defeated the Tigers in three sets. In the first set, the Skyhawks connected for four consecutive kills and jumped out to an 11-3 lead. The Tigers battled, bringing the score back within five (15-10), but the Skyhawks held Savannah to only three more points for the remainder of the set and took an early 1-0 lead.

Back-to-back attack errors from Savannah State gave Point the lead in the second set, and the Skyhawks would remain in the lead for the rest of the set, with the biggest lead being 20-11. The Tigers would bring the score within four, but that was as close as the Tigers would get, as a kill from Baucham would help the Skyhawks secure the set winning point.

In the third set, the Tigers took the first lead of the set but responded with three errors to help Point go ahead 3-1. The Skyhawks remained in the lead for the rest of the set to secure the sweep.

Baucham led Point with eight kills, and Sterling and Matos followed with six kills each. Linda Schiller recorded 10 assists, Allison Lounder recorded nine and Lowe had seven. Palmer and Ward had 14 and 10 digs, respectively.

Point advances to 3-3 on the season and will be back in action on Thursday as they open Appalachian Athletic Conference play at Reinhardt University. Game time is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.