OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Tiffin University volleyball team completed a successful Kentucky road trip on Saturday, grinding out a four-set victory over Kentucky Wesleyan (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-14) inside Jones Gymnasium. The win improved the Dragons to 7-6 in G-MAC play and 7-18 overall.
In a back-and-forth opening set, Kentucky Wesleyan used a late 9-2 run to pull away for a 25-23 victory and take an early lead in the match.
Despite Kentucky Wesleyan battling back to tie the second set at 23-23, the 'Gons responded by capitalizing on a Panther attacking error to reach set point.
Symari Scott then delivered the final kill of the set, securing a 25-23 victory and evening the match at one set apiece. Tiffin erased an early 5-2 deficit and built as much as four point advantage in the middle of the set as they hit an impressive .257 with 13 kills.
Katelyn Owens sparked the Dragons early in the third set with a momentum-building kill that helped Tiffin jump out to a 5-2 advantage. Kentucky Wesleyan answered with five straight points to move in front 9-7 following a kill from Ella Thomas, and the two teams traded points throughout the middle stages of the set. Tiffin regained control with a late surge, taking an 18-17 lead behind a service ace from
Maggie Pavlansky and a Panther attacking error. The Dragons later pushed their advantage to set point at 24-22 and secured the 25-23 victory on another Kentucky Wesleyan attacking error to move ahead 2-1 in the match.
It was all 'Gons in the fourth set as Tiffin stormed out to a commanding 13-5 lead, fueled by two kills apiece from
Kennedi Culp and
Symari Scott. The Dragons continued to control the action throughout the set, pushing their advantage to 20-10 following a kill from
Parker Vackert. Tiffin never looked back, closing out the set with a convincing 25-14 victory to secure the match and earn a key G-MAC win.
Both
Parker Vackert and
Katelyn Owens reached double figures offensively, finishing with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Owens also made a major impact at the net, totaling seven blocks for the Dragons.
Maggie Pavlansky and
Kat Akolzin directed the offense with 21 and 15 assists, while Akolzin added 12 digs to record a double-double.
Next up, the Dragons will head to Hillsdale for a Friday evening matchup slated for 7 p.m.
