Avila Nearly Rallies in Fifth Set Against Southwestern

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – At the tail end of a highly competitive contest, Avila volleyball nearly climbed out of a huge hole in the fifth and final frame, but Southwestern (8-8, 1-3 KCAC) managed to hang on to that early lead and escape Mabee Fieldhouse with a five-set win over the Eagles (4-11, 1-4 KCAC) on Wednesday night.

These two squads have faced off in many important matches over the last few seasons, and the two teams played as though this was likely to be yet another important match. All five frames were tight, all decided by five points or fewer, and both sets of coaches and teams continuously tweaked their lineups and personnel to try to make the key differences in the match.

A prelude to the rest of the night, the two teams went back and forth in the first set Wednesday until Maddie Jones delivered a pair of kills and a service ace to push Avila in front 21-17. Southwestern punched back with three straight points, but a pair of kills from Diamond Sedlak helped give the Eagles set point, where Paige Huhman and Siobhan Dittmer teamed up for one of their many combo blocks to wrap up the first frame 25-21 in favor of Avila.

Southwestern made the first big push of the second set, scoring five straight to go up 8-4 and build a 15-8 lead before the Eagles embarked on a 9-2 run to come all the way back and level the set at 17 apiece. The Builders got back in business though with three straight points, and SC ultimately won the set 25-21 to even things up.

Avila was in command midway through the third set, leading 13-9 before Southwestern spun things around and ultimately knotted the score at 16-all. A 6-1 run then helped the Builders build their largest lead at 22-19 before the Eagles countered with a 5-1 surge to give Avila the first set point chance of the frame: three Eagle errors, however, gifted the set, and the match lead, to the visitors.

Southwestern scored the first two points of the fourth set but once Avila settled in and grabbed a 9-4 lead off an ace from Abigail Blake, they never slowed down. Avila never trailed again in the set, and built a lead as large as 19-10 thanks to some diverse offense steered by setter Daphne Gardner. The Eagles looked to be in complete command, but Southwestern reeled off the next seven points to climb back into the set before a costly service error killed their momentum, and Avila ultimately held on to win 25-22 and send the match to a fifth-set decider.

Points are always at a premium in the first-to-15 sprint that is a fifth set, and those periods are often won by the team that starts off more strongly. In this game, that title definitely went to Southwestern, which scored the first seven points of the fifth set to build an almost insurmountable lead. The Eagles, however, did their very best to surmount it, scoring the next six points to get all the way back within 7-6 – but they could not get closer. Kills from Paige Huhman and Sydney Owens helped keep the Eagles in the mix, but the Builders were able to fend them off long enough to win the fifth set 15-10 and escape with a five-set win.

Veteran SC middle Baylee York led the offense for the visitors with 13 kills on .357 hitting. Maddie Jones led all players with 16 kills before departing the match early, and Huhman had 11 kills and seven total blocks, both season highs; Blake went toe-to-toe with Sophie Wicker, one of the top liberos in the conference, and Blake ultimately just edged that battle, leading all players with 31 digs, a season high.

JV volleyball began the night with a match that also went the distance: Avila defeated Southwestern in three sets in that contest to earn their first win at home this season.

Up next, Avila volleyball makes the trip to Salina, Kansas to take on Kansas Wesleyan this Friday, October 6. JV gets the action started at 4 PM with varsity to follow at 6 PM; as always you can watch all the action live on the KCAC Network.