JACKSON, Tenn. --- The Mississippi College volleyball team fell in four sets in Gulf South Conference action at Union University on Friday, Sept. 22.
 
A pair of freshmen posted a season-highs during the match for the Choctaw (2-7, 1-1 GSC). Mary Grace Foster notched a season-high in kills with nine as she finished tied for third on the team in category. Caylin Pixley totaled a team-best 27 assists to help direct the offense. The kill total for Foster, a Brandon, Miss., native, surpassed her previous best of five set against Georgia College and State University on Sept. 16 and matched in the conference-opening victory on Tuesday evening.
 
Pixley, a Baton Rouge, La., product, bested her previous mark of 21 set against the University of South Caroline in Aiken on Sept. 15. It marks the fifth time this season the Baton Rouge, La., product tallied 20-plus dimes in a contest during her debut season.
 
Caroline Chastang and Lydia Paulette tied for tops on the team in the kill category as the duo notched 11 kills each in the contest. Sloane FitzHenry matched Foster for third on the team. Ali Wiggins added 16 assists to help direct the offense.
 
On the defensive front, Chastang paced the squad with 10 digs while FitzHenry recorded three blocks on the night.
 
After falling 25-18 in the opening set, the Blue and Gold tallied its best attack percentage in a set en route to a 25-17 victory to deadlock the contest at a set apiece. The Choctaw posted a .462 clip during the second frame – a season-best and the first time over .400. It is the sixth time this season, the team has registered a plus-.300 clip in a set this season. The two teams stood deadlocked at 12-all in the set, but MC gained some separation behind a Julia Sumrall kill followed by a Chastang service ace and Union ball-handling error.
 
After the Red and White narrowed the lead to within a point, three consecutive kills from Paulette extended the margin again and a Bulldog attack error pushed the lead to 19-14. The Tuscaloosa, Ala., native totaled five kills during the frame. The Blue and Gold closed the set out on a 6-2 run to gain the eight-point, set win.
 
In the third, the two teams were knotted again midway through the set, but the Bulldogs used a 7-0 run to gain the upperhand at 18-11 and rode the momentum to a 25-18 victory and a 2-1 lead in the contest. The run carried over into the early part of the fourth set as the Bulldogs claimed a 4-0 advantage. MC battled back to tie the contest at eight-all – one of 10 deadlocks in the frame with the last coming at 21-21 behind a Paulette tip.
 
A pair of Choctaw miscues broke the tie and a Vanja Stefanovic kill placed the contest at match point. MC halted the outcome with a Chastang kill off a feed from Pixley, but an attack error iced the contest in favor of the Red and White on its home floor.
 
Reese Owens and Jordan Moore led the Bulldogs with nine kills in the contest.
 
MC held a plus-13 advantage in the kill category for the night and edged Union in attack percentage .200 to the Bulldogs' .176 clip.
 
Mississippi College returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 23 as it continues its tour of the Volunteer State in Memphis, Tenn., against Christian Brothers University. First serve from Canale Arena is 1 p.m.
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