SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College women's volleyball team put a bow on its weekend series with Mars Hill on Saturday, enduring a 3-0 defeat at Goodman Arena.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (3-14, 1-9 SAC) improved its hitting to a percentage of .113 compared to Mars Hill (10-8, 7-4 SAC) who put together a .216 day

- MHU out-aced the Catawba Indians by a 7-3 margin as both sides logged four errors

- The Lions turned 31.5 percent of its sets into assists while Catawba notched a mark of .243; neither team recorded a bad set

- The hosts led the digs department 67-62, but Mars Hill held a 5-3 advantage in blocking

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Kelcie Love smashed a game-high 12 kills on a solid .225 hitting percentage

- Sofia Beard tallied career bests of nine kills and three blocks including two solo denials

- With 26 assists and 10 digs, Haley Moffett collected her third career and second consecutive double-double

- Riley Hill posted 19 digs to lead the category as Kary Hales chipped in 12

- Hill, Sydney Wattles, and Rachel Gonzales each tacked on a service ace

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set

- Beard and Katie Clark joined forces for a match-opening block before Beard launched the day's first kill for a 2-0 start

- Catawba maintained the upper hand until Ioena Poenaru helped key the Lions to a brief 9-8 lead

- Two timely, serve-breaking kills by Love kept MHU from overtaking the blue and white as Clark landed a timeout-provoking strike at 19-17

- The break worked in the Lions' benefit as they usurped Catawba with eight straight points to win the stanza

Second Set

- Katilyn Grant recovered from an error on the set's opening rally to chalk up two kills in a five-point run for the Lions

- Moffett dropped in two kills as Love also landed a pair to push Catawba back into the picture, taking a 9-8 advantage

- The Lions roared back as consecutive darts from Grant created a three-point deficit, but a Beard solo block and two kills forced Catawba ahead, 17-15

- A 10-3 run stemming from another late-set MHU timeout featured successful spikes from Poenaru and Timmons Yates for a 25-20 decision

Third Set

- After surrendering the first point, Catawba kept pace and either led or was tied with MHU for the first dozen rallies

- Love provided three kills around a trio of blocks that featured Grant as Catawba burned both timeouts while MHU surged to a 15-8 edge

- Annica Kagle entered the contest and quickly killed two rallies in a final stand for the blue and white

- Miscues and two kills by Love hindered the Lions' efforts to seal the set by a large margin, instead getting a killshot from Brooke Hoffman for a 25-20 frame to finalize the 3-0 victory

UP NEXT

Catawba defends home court again on Tuesday, Oct. 29 against Tusculum at 7 p.m.