Volleyball Falls to Hiram in Five, Finishes Season Third in NCAC

WOOSTER, Ohio – Following an emphatic win in the third set that put The College of Wooster volleyball team ahead 2-1, Hiram College battled back to win two-consecutive sets and upend the Fighting Scots 3-2 (25-27, 25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 15-10) on Saturday at Timken Gymnasium.

The Scots (21-9, 12-4 NCAC) and Terriers (22-9, 14-2 NCAC) took turns swapping leads and sharing ties throughout the entire match, and both teams were knotted at 9-9 during the deciding fifth set. Hiram then went on a 6-1 run to close out the set and get the win, its second over Wooster this season. With the win, the Terriers end the regular season ranked second in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while the Scots earned third place in the standings, meaning these two teams will meet once again next Friday in the NCAC Tournament semi-finals.

Wooster rallied to win an intense opening set in which it trailed the Terriers 20-12, but then went on a 15-5 run to complete the comeback. KateLynn Riley led the attack with seven kills in the set, and Melissa Morgan (12 digs) and Kelley Johnson (8 digs) kept Wooster alive patrolling the back court. Then in the second set, the Scots once again trailed but made a late charge, this time getting within one point (23-24) prior to dropping the set which tied the match at 1-1.

Both teams remained deadlocked for most of the third set, including ties at 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 apiece, until the Scots pulled away late and Riley smashed down the set-winning kill into the Terriers' back court. In the next set, Hiram got out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back, leading by as much as nine (22-13) and winning 25-17 to tie the match at two wins each and push a fifth set.

The Scots will head to Wittenberg University on Friday to compete in the NCAC Tournament for the third-straight season. Ironically, Wooster and Hiram met in an opening round match last season that saw the Terriers defeat the Scots in straight sets.