Catawba Takes Down Anderson In Epic Five-Set Battle

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College women's volleyball hosted the Anderson Trojans in their final home game of the season on Wednesday night and came out victorious in a valiant effort. Catawba won by scores of 22-25, 25-16, 21-25, 29-27, 15-12. 

The women's volleyball set numerous season-highs on the night as they struck down 67 kills, dished out 61 assists, and dug out 93 digs. All of which were team highs for the 2022 season. 

Set 1

Both teams were tied at 5-5 in the early stages of the game, but Anderson scored seven points in a row and never looked back. Catawba was able to cut it to a one-point deficit, 18-17, but the Trojans took set one by a final of 25-22. 

Set 2

Catawba locked back in and came out on fire in the second set. Four errors by Anderson coupled with kills from Ashley Johnson, Kelcie Love, and Katie Clark gave Catawba an early 11-4 lead. This was enough momentum to keep Catawba in the driver's seat the rest of the way. The Catawba Indians hit an impressive .357 in the set and committed just three attack errors on 28 attempts on their way to a convincing 25-16 win. 

Set 3

The third set was highly contested with both teams exchanging points wire to wire. Anderson had an early 7-5 lead, but an attack error and a block by Lauren Bodell and Katie Clark quickly notched things back up. The third set featured a total of seven ties, but Anderson was able to go on a 6-2 run in the later portion of the set to take a 20-16 lead. This was enough to hold off the home team for a 25-21 win and go up two sets to one. 

Set 4

Set four was the tipping point of the match, and Catawba showed off their grit and resilience as a team. The fourth set had 14 lead changes and six ties in a fight where both teams delivered potential knockout blows. Catawba got off to a fast start behind three kills by Hayes Smith and service aces from Raytchelle Miranda and Lauren Bodell. 

The Trojans were able to chip away slowly and eventually cut the score to 13-12 Catawba. A few points later, Catawba's lead grew to four points, 18-14, after a block from Dara Kane and Katie Clark. Anderson scored four in a row to tie the game, and it was a point-for-point battle the rest of the way. 

The game was tied at 22-22, 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25 in crunch time, and Catawba faced set point three different times. But the volleyball team stood up to the Trojans all three times with clutch points. Hayes Smith knocked down a kill to tie the game when facing elimination the first time, then Anderson committed back-to-back attack errors to put Catawba in front with set point. The visitors used kills on the next two points to swing the tides once again at 27-26, but the home team ended the fourth set with a bang. Katie Clark hit a game-tying kill, AU committed another error, and Dara Kane served up an ace to send the game to a fifth set in a marathon 29-27 win. 

Set 5

With the momentum back on their side, Catawba looked to pull off the upset. The Indians never trailed in the final set and hit a game-high percentage of .381 to take down the Trojans 15-12. 

Three different players had double-digit kills led by Kelcie Love who had 19 while also adding 15 digs. Hayes Smith finished with 17 kills, 17 digs and a pair of service aces. Ashley Johnson had 14 kills and totaled six blocks in the contest. Kary Hales led the team in digs with 28, and Dara Kane had a season-high 55 assists. 

Catawba's volleyball team will play their final regular season games this weekend when they travel to Wingate on Friday and Coker on Saturday.