Winning Streak Ends at Nine for Lady Lions on the Road
October 13, 2007 October 12, 2007Wise, VA- The Cavaliers of UVA-Wise stopped the Bryan Volleyball win streak at 9 when the visiting Lions lost in 5 (28-30, 30-25, 23-30, 30-18, 14-16) at Wise Friday. The Lions fell behind 8-3 in game 1 and never fully gained control of the match.
The Cavaliers fought valiantly to grind out the important victory, which knocked the Lions into 2nd place in the AAC. Despite a tremendous defensive effort by senior Libero Kathryn Rawley, the Lions struggled offensively, hitting a season-low .186. Setters Deb Lowery and Hannah Suits struggled in dishing out 56 assists over the 5 games. Gabby Claxton and Amber Smith combined for 30 digs, but could not give the Lions the edge they needed to put the match away.
"We gave up the psychological edge we had over Wise going into the match, which was enough to allow them to get into their game," commented Bryan's Coach Leo Sayles. "The Wise girls played a tremendous match, and they deserved to win tonight. We were outplayed by a solid team. I am not frustrated with the way we played tonight, simply disappointed that we could not put together three solid games. We will need to be sharper next week and going into the home-stretch when we return. Hopefully, we will be ready for some big challenges next week."
The Lions, now 12-2 in conference (16-6 overall) travel to California for key non-conference matches against NAIA #4 Biola University on Monday and #5 Azusa Pacific University on Wednesday. Live in game stats will be available through the LIVE BROADCASTS link on the Bryan Athletics web page.