CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The University of Montevallo volleyball team fell to host Queens University (N.C.) 3-1 in the first match of the Royals' Invitational on the first day of the 2014 volleyball season Sept. 5.
The Falcons fell to the University of Sioux Falls 3-1 in the second match in the Queens Invitational later in the evening.
The Falcons dropped their season-opening match against host Queens 3-1. The Royals won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-21, with the Falcons clinching the third set 25-17, before closing out the victory with a 25-13 win in the fourth set.
Junior Rebekah Phelps led the Falcons (0-2) with 10 kills while hitting .312 in the opening match.
Senior Sarah Guidry added seven kills and 14 digs, while fellow senior Katie Best contributed four kills. Sophomore Chandler Cooper finished with three kills. A pair of newcomers, junior Nicole Holton and freshman Kristy Bohan, added two kills each. Holton also added 12 digs in the match.
Junior Briana Marquez contributed a team-high 17 assists to go along with seven digs, while fellow junior Carissa Bell paced the Falcons with 15 digs.
The Falcons and the Royals battled through the early part of the opening set, with Montevallo taking a 15-14 lead following a service ace by Guidry. However, the Royals responded with a 11-4 run to clinch the first set on a service ace by Kathrina Kirby.
Cooper led Montevallo with two kills in the opening set.
The Falcons jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the second set, capped with a kill by Guidry, to gain momentum. The Royals took control midway through the set with a 3-0 run, capped with back-to-back kills by Elizabeth Bialkowski and Meredith Jones, to take a 10-7 lead over the Falcons.
Montevallo trimmed the deficit to 16-15 following a kill by Phelps, but the Royals responded with a quick 3-0 burst and held on down the stretch to clinch a 25-21 win in the second set.
Phelps led the Falcons with six kills in the second set.
Phelps registered a kill to start off the third set, which helped Montevallo jump out to an early 5-1 lead. The Royals came back with a 7-2 run following a series of attack errors by the Falcons to take their first lead in the set at 8-7.
Montevallo responded with a 6-1 run, capped with a service ace by Guidry, to take back momentum in the set. The Falcons closed out the 25-17 win in the third set with a 7-2 run, capped with a set-clinching kill by Best.
Queens opened the fourth set with a 4-1 run following back-to-back kills by Bialkowski and Jones. The Royals went on a 13-4 run midway through the set on their way to clinching the match with a 25-13 victory in the fourth set.
The Falcons fell to the University of Sioux Falls 3-1 in their second match in the Queens Invitational. Montevallo dropped the first two sets 25-17 and 25-20 before clawing back to clinch a 28-26 win in the third set, but the Cougars closed out the match with a 25-18 win in the fourth set.
Cooper led Montevallo with a career-high 16 kills in the match while hitting .394.
Best finished with a .400 attack percentage and registered nine kills, while Phelps recorded eight kills. Bohan finished with six kills and a .357 attack percentage. Guidry added four kills and 13 digs.
Marquez finished with a team-high 35 assists to go along with two kills and five digs. Bell, who recorded one kill, compiled a team-best 25 digs.
Montevallo will return to action Saturday, Sept. 6 with a pair of matches to close out the Queens Invitational. The Falcons will face Lenoir-Rhyne University at 11:45 a.m. before capping the event with a match against Limestone College at 4:15 p.m.
