CLINTON, Miss. — Mississippi Christian defeated Lee 3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 14-25, 15-12) on Friday. The Choctaws finished the opening set on a 10-0 run, moving from a 22-15 deficit to a 25-22 set win.
MC erased a 22-15 deficit by scoring the final 10 points of the first set, with
Reese Regner serving the last nine points in a 25-22 win. Earlier, Lee built separation with runs that pushed The Blue and Gold behind 6-2 and later 21-14, including back-to-back service aces. The Choctaws began their response after a Lee service error, then got consecutive kills from
Cydney Mitchell and back-to-back kills from
Meg Paparella to pull within 22-20. Regner followed with a service ace, a Lee attack error tied the set at 22, and Mitchell's kill moved MC in front before two Lee errors finished the set.
The Choctaws' main surge came after Lee built a 16-10 lead, as MC won seven of the next eight rallies and tied the second set at 17-17. Earlier, The Blue and Gold kept the set close with kills from
Rhaia Davey,
Cydney Mitchell and
Audrianna Green, with
Reese Regner assisting each of those swings before Lee moved back in front. The comeback included kills from
Harper Green and
Mary Grace Foster, another
Harper Green finish from
Maeve Allen and four straight
Rylie Widener service points, capped by Widener's ace for the 17-17 tie. Lee answered with the next two points, and after MC got back within 19-18 on a service error, Lee pushed the margin to 24-18 before a
Cydney Mitchell kill and a Lee attack error kept the set going. Lee closed the set on a kill for a 25-20 score.
The Blue and Gold erased a 9-4 deficit in the third set, pulling even at 12-12 on
Meg Paparella's kill from
Reese Regner before Regner followed with a service ace for a 13-12 lead. Lee tied it at 13, but a service error and another Paparella kill, this one set by
Audrianna Green, helped the Choctaws stay in front through the middle of the set.
Rhaia Davey delivered kills at 17-15, 19-15 and 22-19, while Foster added a block and a kill from
Sophia Saxon to push MC to 24-21. Lee answered once, but a Lee attack error closed a 25-22 set win for the Choctaws.
MC dropped the fourth set, 25-14, after Lee created early separation and kept the margin out of reach. After the teams split the first four points, Lee moved ahead 7-2 before
Caroline Downey answered with a kill from
Reese Regner. The Choctaws picked up points from
Rhaia Davey, a
Maeve Allen service ace and a
Meg Paparella kill from
Rylie Widener, but Lee pushed the score to 17-9 and later 22-11. Davey added two more kills down the stretch, including one from Allen to make it 23-13, before Lee finished the set at 25-14.
The Blue and Gold answered an opening service error with six straight points, moving from a 1-0 deficit to a 6-1 lead in the fifth set.
Harper Green tied it with a kill from
Reese Regner, and
Sophia Saxon served the next five points as Green and
Rhaia Davey added kills and Lee committed three errors. Davey then helped the Choctaws create more separation with a kill and two blocks during a stretch that pushed the score to 9-3, and
Samarin Kipple and Foster later supplied kills to keep MC ahead. Lee cut the margin to 12-11, but the Choctaws responded with a Lee ball-handling error and a
Cydney Mitchell block before a final Lee service error ended the set at 15-12.
Rhaia Davey led The Blue and Gold with 10 kills while hitting .529 and adding two blocks.
Samarin Kipple recorded a team-high 16 digs.
Reese Regner finished with 14 assists, 13 digs and two service aces.
Harper Green added eight kills and three digs.
Up next, MC hosts Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 2 p.m. in Clinton, Miss.
