Martin Methodist too strong for Bryan College

The Red Hawks of Martin Methodist visited Summers Gymnasium Oct. 20, and left their mark on the gym.  The visitors dispatched the Lady Lions volleyball team in straight sets, 30-12, 30-16, 30-16.

MMC boasted an impressive lineup, and the Lions could not match up against them.  Early in game one, the Lions looked intimidated by the big block and hitting prowess of the Red Hawks, but unforced passing and hitting errors kept the Lions from testing the visitors.

The score in game two indicates the dominance of the Red Hawks, but does not tell the full story.  The Lions began to settle down, and were able to run their offense some, but MMC stepped up their level of play and held off the efforts of the Lions to keep the game close.  The Red Hawks repelled several solid rallies by the Lions, and posted the 30-16 win.

Game 3 was much the same, with the Red Hawks displaying the ability to take their game to a higher level every time the Lady Lions tried to challenge.

After the match, Coach Sayles commented, "I am not at all disappointed in our ladies tonight.  We knew what we were up against, and found out that MMC is much deeper this year than last.  We knew that we would have to execute flawlessly to have a chance to stay with them, and just were not able to run as efficient as we had hoped.  I give the Red Hawks credit for part of that, and hope we will grow from this with a deeper understanding of the game.  Even with the loss, I will say it was fun to see a team play so well.  We don't normally see such efficiency as the 'Hawks displayed, and will need to learn to play that way to move into a higher level of competition.  Hopefully, we will grow from this and are ready to take on our conference teams again."

"I saw good effort put forth by several players, and saw some fine effort and adjustments put forward by our freshmen, Robin Renfroe, Rachel Meek, and Caylin Carswell.  The are working hard and improving every match, and showed maturity in their play.  Matches like this are good for the team, because we can only get better by facing better teams."

The Lions, now 10-15 overall, travel to Union College Saturday at 1 p.m., in a crucial match to remain in the race for a conference playoff bid.