The Presbyterian College volleyball team opened the Redbird Classic, being held Aug. 31-Sept. 1, with a hard-fought 3-0 (22-25, 19-25, 24-26) loss to Illinois State tonight in Bloomington, Ill.
The Blue Hose fall to 1-5 overall while the Redbirds improve to 2-2.
Presley Mabrey led PC with eight kills, while Allison Brown followed with seven on the night. Mabrey and Ashtin Frank paced the team with 12 digs apiece, with Frank leading the assist margin with 27 as well.
PC posted 33 kills but suffered through 27 errors to finish the match with a .053 hitting percentage. Illinois State came away with 42 kills and 23 errors for a .142 hitting percentage. The Redbirds led with 11.0 total blocks, while PC had eight on the night.
The Blue Hose found themselves down 21-15 in the first game before rallying to a 22-22 tie off a 7-1 run, highlighted by two kills by Kelly Berryman, who ended the night with three. A kill by ISU's Shannon McGlaughlin and Ashley Rosch, as well as a PC attack error, ended the comeback as the Redbirds took the next three straight to win 25-22.
After ISU opened the second game 4-0, the Blue Hose fought back to take a 12-10 lead, due in part to five PC kills. The lead was short lived as the Redbirds won the next four of five points to take back the lead, 14-13. The rest of the game was tight until ISU, up by just two, 21-19, closed out the stanza with a 4-0 run to take the 25-19 win.
Down 16-21 in the third game, PC went on a 7-1 run, after capitalizing on four ISU attack errors an two Brown kills, and took a 23-22 lead. The Redbirds fought back to a 24-24 tie before LaighAnn Hranka, who led ISU with 10 on the night, nailed back-to-back kills to help the home team take the 26-24 win.
The Blue Hose take on Oregon State and Miami in action Saturday, Sept. 1, as part of the tournament. Match times are 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. (ET), respectively.
