Lady Pioneers Fall In 5 Set Season Opening Thriller

Lady Pioneers Fall In 5 Set Season Opening Thriller- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 8-24-23

Crowley's Ridge- 2

Harris-Stowe- 3

St. Louis, MO- After 292 days of drought, the Lady Pioneers hit the floor in St. Louis, MO in their 2023 Volleyball season debut and boy oh boy they did not disappoint. Although the end result was not what the Lady Pioneers hoped for, they proved that this 2023 team is a competitive group willing to dig deep and fight all the way until the end. 

Several veteran Pioneers  made their presence known as seniors Hannah Halverson and Emi Elms along with junior Paige Glenn ended the night in double digit kills. Sophomore Kinley Matlock picked up where she left off last season racking up 38 digs in the contest along with junior Jadyn Hesse doing what she does best, handing out assists, as she collected 26 of them in the 5 sets.  Like every year when the new season begins there  is some new noise from the newly added Pioneers. Two of those Pioneers made their debut tonight as freshmen Mariah Fudge from Jacksonville, Ark. picked up 8 kills in her collegiate debut. Jillian Glasgow, also a freshman , from Paragould, Ark. made her entrance onto the college court with the 6 '0 utility player bagging 6 assists and picking up 1 service ace.

The Lady Pioneers opened tonight with a thrilling 26-24 set win over the hosting Hornets of Harris-Stowe. CRC kicked off their season with a strong  performance leading the Hornets deep into the set until a late push from HSSU rallied to tie the set 24-24. CRC seemed to let the Hornets creep back into play as CRC took the 24-20 point lead but it would take 5 set point serves from the Pioneers before CRC would finally take the set.

In Set two, the Pioneers traded point for point with the Hornets until late when CRC attempted to pull ahead 22-19 as Paige Glenn smashed a kill through the Hornets defense. With the set win for CRC closing in, a sudden flip of the script from the Hornets changed the outcome as they tied the set and before CRC could answer, HSSU would take the set 25-23. 

Set three got interesting when a Hornet  snuck an ace over the CRC line midway through the set, taking a 10-7 point advantage but a strong bounceback from the Crowley's Ridge defense allowed a matching ace from Jillian Glasgow to find the hardwood tying the set 13-13. Fighting for every point, the 'Neers would finally link points allowing them to keep things neck and neck as  Fudge, Halverson, and a lengthy team effort volley made the score 22-22. When play resumed CRC would even retake the lead 23-22  but just like set two, the Hornets flipped the script halting all CRC momentum, busting out a 3 point run to claim the set and the advantage. 

The Lady Pioneers would face their biggest deficit of the match in set four as the Hornets looked to end the competition with their 13-10 lead over CRC. Coach Carissa Winn would call a timeout in hopes of getting a grip on the situation. When the whistle blew to resume play, CRC wouldn't find the stoppage they needed and quickly found themselves down 17-11. Junior Alexis Weirich, who collected 8 kills in the contest, would be the catalyst CRC needed as she found the weak link with a shot down the sideline, finally swatting off the hornet swarm. With all the will-power and determination the Pioneers could muster, they rallied off Weirich's kill and slowly chipped their way back into the set going on a 8-2 run cutting the deficit to one, 19-20 which forced a HSSU timeout. This time when play resumed, the Pioneers went to work. Jadyn Hesse stepped behind the service line and linked together three points to retake the lead 22-20. CRC forced a decisive set 5 by Fudge, Halveson, and Glenn all finding hardwood with kills besting the hornets in set 4, 25-23. Now entering the 5th set, the Pioneers dug deep into their reserve fuel but just fell short in their season opener. HSSU beat CRC to the halfway point as they led 8-6 and with that momentum they finally found the pull they had been looking for all game as they went on a 7-1 run defeating CRC 15-7 and taking the contest 3 sets to 2. 

The Lady Pioneers look to bounce back on Saturday as they host Pensacola Christian and Highway 412 rival Williams Baptist University in their season home opener. The Tri-Match is scheduled for first serve at 11:00am in the Carter Activities Center. #GOPIONEERS