SANDUSKY, Ohio – September 11, 2021 – Hiram women's volleyball concluded play at the MIAA/NCAC Battle at the Point with two matches against Adrian and Trine on Saturday. The Terriers defeated Adrian 3-0, and fell to Trine, 3-2.

GAME 1: Hiram 3, Adrian 0
The first set started with a back and forth affair that saw each team with ten points each. After the teams continued trading points, Hiram had a breakthrough. After a four point run that included two Mackenzie Brannon service aces, the Terriers took an 18-14 lead. Despite the run, Adrian battled back as the set would have to be settled past 25 points. Adrian and Hiram traded points up until the 27-point mark before the Terriers were able to clinch the set. An attack error followed by an Alex Fisher kill gave Hiram the 29-27 victory.

Set two started in a similar fashion as set one. Emily Richardson picked up a kill making it 9-8 as Adrian took a timeout. Coming out of the break, Hiram extended their lead to 14-10 after a Kiara Franks kill. After the Bulldogs second timeout, the Terriers built up their lead. Andrya Hanmore and     Richardson secured back-to-back kills pushing the lead to 21-14. Hiram maintained the multi-point advantage late capturing the set on a Kayla Cole kill at 25-19.

Set three would prove to be the closest of the night with a down to the wire finish. Another Richardson kill evened the score at ten before a slight Adrian run. The Bulldogs took a 14-11 lead, but Adrian slighted ahead before a Hiram run of their own. The back-and-forth affair continued late into the set. With the game tied at 23, Hiram took the final two points. Richardson ended the set and the match as the Terriers won 25-23.

Kiara Franks led the squad with 11 kills with Richardson behind her at nine. Mackenzie Brannon finished with 19 digs and Mary Landis led the team with 16 assists.

All seven of Hiram's wins this season are in three sets.

GAME 2: Trine 3, Hiram 2

Similar to set one in the Adrian match, both Trine and Hiram battled closely as the match started. Trine however, went on a six-point streak extending the lead to 19-11. Hiram chipped away, cutting the lead to 21-17. Trine rattled off the final three points of the set winning 25-19.

After a close start in set two, the Terriers exploded midway through to take a healthy lead. A four point run that included a Franks kill put Hiram up 14-9. A Kayla Cole kill capped off a scoring run that saw Hiram go up 21-12. The Terriers sailed smoothly into a set two victory winning 25-14.

Set three featured two huge runs from each team. Trine put up eight straight points extending an 11-6 lead. The Terriers hung in strong however, putting up seven straight points marking a 15-14 lead after a Richardson kill. After Trine cut the lead to 20-18, Hiram picked up five of the next six points for a third set victory.

Franks tied the set at nine during the fourth set after a back-and-forth start. Neither team would break too out in front of each other after trading points mostly in the middle portion of the set. Trine got out to a 17-13 lead, before two Hiram points. The Terriers couldn't get over the hill with Trine taking four of the final five points as the contest headed to a fifth set.

As the nail biting fifth set started, Hiram took an 8-5 lead after an attack error by Trine. Despite trailing, Trine rallied for six straight points late and went up 13-10. With the match on the line, Hiram scored three straight times tying it at 14. Despite the comeback, Trine took the final two points winning 16-14 as well as the match in five sets.

Individually, Cole and Franks were key contributors on offense with 16 kills each. Emily Chrustic had 29 assists with Brannon collecting 26 digs. Additionally, Franks and Chrustic had 18 and 11.

This is the first set of the season to go five sets, as well as just the second loss on the season. The Terriers are now 7-2.

Two Terriers reached career milestones in the matches on the day. Kayla Cole notched her 1000th career kill and Emily Chrustic recorded her 1000th assist.

Hiram next plays Tuesday, Sept. 14, as the team travels to play at Heidelberg at 7 p.m.