Bryan Goes 2-2 at Cumberland Tourney

    The Lady Lions went into the Cumberland Tournament down five players, but pulled together to finish the weekend 2-2 with a 5th place finish out of 9 teams.  The Lions, playing without team captains Abby Humphrey, Kathryn Rawley (injury) and starter Brittany Carter, found leadership in Junior Leah White and sophomores Kaylin Carswell and Robin Renfroe. 

     Friday the Lions narrowly defeated local rival Covenant 3-2 to open their weekend (22-30, 30-23, 30-26, 25-30, 15-8).  The Scots controlled game one jumping out to a 7-1 lead and not looking back, but the Lions responded with two victories behind the serving of Freshman MB Amber Smith and the setting of Jenny Loveday.  Game four was closely contested, with the Scots coming out on top.

     The Lions appeared to stumble at the beginning of game five.  Down 5-1, Smith served the Lions back to a brief 6-5 lead.  The two teams traded points until \White stepped back to the line and served 7 straight service points to put the Lions at game point, 14-7.  Robin Renfroe led the charge up front during the run with 4 kills and a block.  Covenant sided out 14-8, but a net error gave Bryan the victory.  A balanced attack  and solid defense guided the team to victory:  Carswell, Renfroe, and Smith each finished with 13 kills, while Smith served up 4 aces and Carswell 5.  Smith contributed on 7 total blocks, while freshman Libero Heather Hacker recorded 18 digs.  Freshman setter Jennifer Loveday contributed 47 assists and 15 digs. 

     Saturday, the Lions opened with a tough match against host school Cumberland University .  The Lions fought valiantly and had their chances to win, but dropped a tightly-contested match 3-1 (30-32, 30-23, 25-30, 31-33).  The trio of freshman Gabrielle Claxton (14 kills, .273 pct., 16 digs, 3 aces), Renfroe (14 kills, 4 total blocks) and Smith (13 kills, 8 aces, 6 total blocks) kept Cumberland on their heels.  Loveday 41 more assists and 22 digs in a very strong effort.  “This match was just a great one for everyone involved,” commented Coach Sayles.  “We had our chances to win both game one and gave up a large lead (29-23) in the final game, but it was not because we played poorly.  This was a better match than our victory over Covenant, but Cumberland refused to allow us to score, and had many incredible digs defensively.  There was a definite home-court advantage as well.  I truly believe we would have won in 3 had this match been on our home court.”

     The Lions stumbled in their second game of the day against a strong Lambuth University team, losing three straight (20-30, 24-30, 16-30).  LU kept the Lions from running their offense efficiently with tough serving and solid blocking, which carried Lambuth into the tournament championship later in the day.  Carswell commented that the Lions were not “motivated enough to play hard” in the loss when the team met afterwards.  “I think Kaylin was correct, and we gave up the chance to force a 3-way tie for first in our pool and the opportunity to advance to the finals.  However, the team responded with a tremendous match against Mountain State in their final match to redeem themselves.”

     The Lions roared to a 3-0 (30-26, 31-29, 30-23) victory over MSU, which went 5 with Lambuth and Covenant earlier in the tournament.  Another strong team effort offensively (.261 hitting percentage) and aggressive defensive work (14.5 team blocks) guided the Lions.  Hacker guided the back row with 17 digs and strong passing, while Renfroe narrowly missed a double-double with 10 kills and 9 total blocks.

     “I think this group is beginning to play like a team.  Throughout the tournament, we saw a balanced attack, a solid team defensive effort, and great contributions from the entire roster.  Considering we played with one junior, two sophomores, and 8 freshmen and were one step away from advancing to the tournament championship, I would say there is a lot of promise for the season, if we can get healthy and stay that way. We can only get stronger by adding our missing starters and captains back to the roster as we go into conference competition.  I am proud of the effort of all the girls, and look forward to our next home match against Covenant on Sept. 12.  I think the girls are looking forward as well to being home with their fan base.”

     The Lions, now 3-5, travel to Union College (KY) on Tuesday to open conference play, then travel to North Carolina next weekend for matches against conference rival Montreat College, Brevard College, and Brewton Parker College.