Women's Volleyball closed out the 2020 season with a loss to the Park University Pirates in the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
The Ravens lost 3-1, but the result showed promise for the young Ravens squad. Tuesday was only the third time all season the Pirates lost a set.
The Pirates asserted their dominance early in the match, storming out to a 13-3 lead. The Ravens answered with a 5-1 stretch that pulled them to within 14-8. Continuing to cut into the Park lead, the Ravens scored 4 of the next 7 points to shorten the deficit to 17-12. However, the Pirates closed out the first set in strong fashion, picking up a 25-14 win.
Nada Meawad, the reigning NAIA Hitter of the Week, picked up 9 kills in the first set. The Ravens were led by Mary Pat Taylor's 4 kills and Joslyn Lewis added 3 kills.
The Ravens did a much better job competing in the second set. The Pirates took a 12-6 lead, but instead of running away with the lead like they did in the first set, Park was unable to shake the Ravens. The home side went on an 8-3 run to get within a single point. The Pirates never let the Ravens tie the set, though, going on to win 25-20.
Haylie Dickerson had 4 kills in the set for the Ravens and Marea Wortmann had an ace. Meawad was a force once again for the Pirates, knocking down 9 more kills in the set.
In the third set, the Ravens topped the Pirates 26-24. Before Tuesday night, Park's only lost sets came in a 3-2 win against Central Methodist University. The Ravens ran out to a 9-1 lead in the third set, but with the Ravens, up 13-5 the Pirates began to climb back into the set. They eventually tied the set at 18-18 and the teams battled back-and-forth. The Ravens had set point at 24-23, but the Pirates got a kill from Meawad. The Ravens then took the 25th point and a Dickerson block gave them the 2-point win, 26-24.
The Ravens had a balanced attack in the third set. Katrina Vojvodic had 5 kills, Lewis had 4, and Taylor had 3 kills. They had a .351 attack percentage in the set.
Park turned in a strong fourth set to secure the match. They took a 10-6 lead early, then extended that to 17-8 before going on to win 25-14. Meawad had 7 kills in the set and led the Pirates with 30 in the match.
Lewis had a team-high 9 kills for the Ravens while Dickerson, Taylor, and Vojvodic each had 8 kills. Wortmann had 24 assists and 11 digs, and Megan Luby had 26 kills. Dickerson had two blocks and Maggie Schoening added a solo block, as well.
The Ravens close out the regular season with an overall record of 8-9 and 5-7 in Heart of America South Division play.
