On Day 2 of the USCAA Tip-Off Tournament, the Golden Eagles found themselves as the No. 2 seed and tasked with playing rival Cincinnati Clermont the No. 3 seed. Tied 2-2, the match went to a deciding fifth set and the Cougars ended up pinning the first loss of the season on the navy and gold.
In the 3-2 loss, the Eagles did not look like themselves in the first two sets losing 25-16, 25-15. KSU Tusc trailed 16-4 in the opener as UCC went on to build a 14-point, 21-7 lead before winning.
Behind 11-4 in the second stanza, the Eagles reeled off six straight points to draw within 11-10. The Cougars waivered only momentarily as they picked up the pace once again to take a nine-point, 21-12 lead before they wrapped up the set to lead the match 2-0.
It was the Golden Eagles turn to dominate in the third set and they opened up a close game by taking a 21-14 lead. However, they were outscored 10-3 down the stretch as the Cougars forged a tied at 24-24. At one point, the Eagles had led 24-20 and were just one point away from grabbing the win. After being tied, Eagles stormed back to close out the set with the final two points and force a fourth set.
The fourth set featured seven ties along with seven lead changes---the last coming at 19-18 after UCC had tied things at 18-18. The Eagles literally "killed it" with Makenzie Ailes knocked down two balls for 22-18 and 23-20 leads, while a big cross court hit by Alivia Spaulding put the set on the line 24-21. A Cougar deep return added the final point to tie the match at 2-2.
With KSU Tusc leading the tie breaking fifth set 3-1, Clermont made a 4-0 run to take a 5-3 lead. Just three points separated the two teams with UCC leading 13-10, before the final two points went the Cougars way for 15-10 set win and a 3-2 match victory.
The Eagles were led by Addison Gordon, Alivia Spaulding and Lizzy Keller with 11 point each, while Keller also had 13 digs and nine kills. Spaulding led with 10 kills, Kylie Culbertson had 12 digs and 24 assists and Cayla Shrimplin made 11 digs.
Now 4-1 on the season, the Eagles travel to Lakeland Community College on Wednesday, September 6th for a 6 p.m. match.
Lizzy Keller makes a dig from the back row.
Alivia Spaulding gets ready to play the ball off the net as Taliayh Johnson hits the floor.
(Photos by Rob Brindley)