Lady Lions go 1-3 at high-powered Clearwater Christian Tourney

Bryan college’s Women’s Volleyball team went 1-3 against stiff competition at the Clearwater Christian Labor Day Weekend Tournament in Clearwater, Fl.

Friday night, The Lions opened with a 3-0 loss to 2004 SSAC-South champions Brewton Parker College (20-30, 27-30, 22-30). The Lions were out of sync during their first match, as they continue to try and adjust to each other in the early season.

“We were using probably our fourth lineup of the season to start the match since we lost MB Robin Renfroe mid-week (ankle injury). Our serve-receive was in disarray, which resulted in a dismal .090 hitting percentage. There is no way you can win with such poor hitting and passing,” commented Coach Leo Sayles.

After falling behind and never holding a lead in the first game, the Lions appeared to take control in the second, and held leads at 24-20 and 26-24, but passing collapsed, and the Lions dropped the second 27-30. Brewton-Parker controlled the third game to put away the match.

In their second match of the evening, the Lions faced a formidable foe in host Clearwater Christian College, the defending National Christian Colleges Athletic Association Div II champions. The host Cougars were led by 6’1” NCCAA All-American MB Laura Melvin, who dominated the middle the entire match. Not to be outdone, however, the Lions battled the host school to five games before succumbing 3-2 (18-30, 30-25, 22-30, 30-25, 14-16).

Kim Barlow paced the Lions with 12 kills and 2.5 blocks. Abby Humphrey posted another double-double game with 11 kills and 23 digs. Freshman Kaylin Carswell, however, was the key component of the Lions attack, posting 12 kills and only 1 hitting error. Libero Christine Pratt and Setter Kathryn Rawley were again perfect from the serving line, serving a combined 44 serves with no misses. After forcing a fifth and deciding game, neither team led by more than a point until the Cougars put forth a 4-point scoring burst to take a lead at 14-10. However, the Lions responded with a strong side-out block by Barlow and 3 quick service points to tie the score at 14-14.

Clearwater took a time-out, and stopped the Lions run. OH April Lewis put down two kills to finish the game and match for the Cougars.  "I am very pleased with our effort tonight," commented Coach Sayles.  "Although we got off to a rough start, we settled down and played very competitive volleyball against arguably the best NCCAA Div. II team of the past decade. You could see that the Cougars' experience in the national tournament gave them the poise they needed to answer our runs.  However, our ladies displayed the same poise, which can carry them a long way in future matches."

Saturday morning, the Lions squared off against Mid-America Christian, a team which advanced to the 2004 NCCAA national tournament. After a rough start, the Lions begin to settle down and build a 6-point lead in game 1, only to see MAC battle back to a tie at 26-26. The teams traded the lead until it appeared MAC would put the game away at 29-28. A strong kill by captain Kim Barlow forced the game into extra points, but MAC prevailed 33-31.

As game 2 began, the Lions appeared more determined to see the game to the finish, and fought off a late charge to win 30-25. The win in game 2 seemed to give the Lions confidence, and they cruised to a 30-18 win in game three. Tasting victory, the Lions went on a masterful run, building leads of 14-4 and 18-6 in game 4 before MAC could mount any legitimate attack. However, the Lions were not to be outmatched in this game, winning the final game 30-15 for a 3-1 victory.

Barlow and Abby Humphrey combined for 26 kills in the match, and Kathryn Rawley finished with 31 assists, 9 digs, and 2 kills. Kaylin Carswell contributed 8 kills, 10 digs, and 7 aces. Libero Christine Pratt had 19 digs, and combined with Rawley and Opposite Leah White for a combined 44 serves with no misses. "We finally are beginning to put together several good games, and are learning how to finish," commented Coach Sayles.

The Lions had to turn around and play a fresh squad from Webber International University. WIU boasts a strong arsenal of hitters, led by Opposite Leah Merrique (Trinidad & Tobago) and MH Jenny Womble, and finished 2004 in their regional championships. WIU prevailed 3-1 (19-30, 26-30, 30-28, 15-30) despite a strong team effort by Bryan and solid individual play from Kim Barlow (12 kills, .471 hitting percentage) and Kathryn Rawley, who posted a second double-double (18 assists, 10 digs) and remains near-perfect in the early season with 17 service points.

The Warriors' superior power and speed paced them to a 4-0 run and tournament championship after defeating Bryan. "This was a tough loss, yet I am still proud of our team. They stayed with the Warriors until fatigue set in during game 4. The Warriors were still on fresh legs, since they did not play an early game like we did. But that is the nature of tournament draws!"

Overall, Bryan is 2-6 in non-conference play, and opens their conference schedule Sept. 6 at winless Covenant College (7:00 p.m.) Despite the record, the Lions appear ready for the challenges of conference competition. “We have had to struggle through some early obstacles. One of our top setter recruits chose last-minute not to come to Bryan, and I dismissed our #1 recruit for disciplinary reasons. Then to lose our other two setters early to injury, forcing us to move one of our top defensive specialists into the setter position, we could have completely collapsed.

"We weathered that last week at Cumberland, then lost one of our starting Middles, Robin Renfroe, with an ankle injury, forcing a new lineup for this weekend. We had a very shallow depth-chart this weekend, and had no oneready to help in our passing, should anyone struggle. Yet throughout the struggles, the girls have shown poise, and are beginning to show the tenacity it takes to be a championship team. We are slowly healing, and hope to field our full team within the next couple of weeks,” commented Coach Sayles.

“I am actually pleased with the progress we have made against a very tough preseason schedule. We faced three teams that advanced to their regional playoffs, one conference section champion, two teams that went to the NCCAA national tournament last year, and narrowly missed defeating the defending national champions. The record looks much worse than the way we are playing, and if we can find consistency and recover from our injuries, we have tremendous potential for a very strong conference run. Now it is up to the players to play with confidence, poise, and character through a tough 22-match conference schedule…and I personally believe these young ladies will emerge as one of the strongest teams Bryan has fielded in years.”

Bryan hosts Montreat College on Friday, Sept. 9, then will face 2004 AAC Tri-Champions Brevard College on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 11:00 a.m. There will be a $3 admissions fee (students are free). Come support the Lady Lions!