HIRAM, Ohio - April 9, 2021 – Coming from behind in the final two sets, Hiram College women's volleyball swept The College of Wooster Fighting Scots, 3-0, on Friday in their lone home match of the 2021 spring slate.
The Terriers got off to a hot start in the first set, rattling off the first three points of the set and a 9-3 run to take the early lead. Hiram never trailed in the opening set as they continued their hot start, hitting .520 in the first set.
Hiram led by as many as nine, 19-10, midway through the first set, before scoring three straight on kills by
Madison Burns,
Kayla Cole and an attack error to take a 22-11 lead.
Wooster scored to quick points to cut the deficit back to eight, but the Terriers notched the final three points of the set on kills by
Jaya Martin and a block my Martin and
Melina Lee to take the first set, 25-13.
Though the Terriers again took the early lead, set two proved to be much closer. Up 7-3 in the early going, Hiram extended their lead to 9-5, before a 5-0 Wooster run gave the Fighting Scots their first lead of the match.
From there, the Terriers and Fighting Scots traded points, with ties at 11-11, 12-12 and 13-13, before Wooster rattled off a run of their own, scoring four of the next five to take a 17-14 lead.
But the Terriers regrouped after a timeout, regained the serve after a service error and proceeded to go on a 9-1 run to take a 23-18 lead.
Wooster slowed the Terriers roll with a Sydney Sherrieb kill, but
Kayla Cole won the serve back with one of her eight kills, before Hiram took the set, 25-19, on a Wooster attack error, to take a 2-0 lead.
Hiram again opened the third set with a pair of kills, this time by Martin and Lee, before Wooster responded to take the lead. A 4-1 run gave the Fighting Scots a 4-3 lead, before
Lyndsey Johns evened the set at 4-all.
Wooster again went on a run, this time taking a 10-7 lead, before a 5-0 Terrier run, keyed by two kills from Lee, gave Hiram the lead for good.
The Fighting Scots cut the deficit to one, 13-12, before an 11-2 run by Hiram put the set away for good. Wooster would score two points to cut the Terriers' lead to 24-16, before Burns gave the Terriers the 25-16 third-set victory and a 3-0 sweep with a kill.
Cole, Franks and Martin each led the Terriers with eight kills, while Johns added seven and Lee added six. Burns tallied a team-high 21 assists, while
Mackenzie Brannon, Burns and Franks each notched two service aces.
Defensively, Brannon led the Terriers with 14 digs, while Franks notched eight.
As a team, Hiram hit .356, while holding the Fighting Scots to a .185 hitting percentage.
The Terriers will wrap up their 2021 spring campaign on Saturday, April 17 when they visit the Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio for a matchup against the Tigers at 1:00 p.m.
