LIVINGSTON, Ala. — Mississippi Christian lost to West Ala. 3-0 (18-25, 17-25, 19-25) on Friday. The Choctaws finished with 32 kills and a .026 hitting percentage, while West Ala. had 39 kills and hit .306.
MC stayed even through much of the first set before West Ala. broke a 17-17 tie with five straight points and went on to take the set 25-18. Earlier, the Choctaws answered a 3-1 deficit with kills from
Meg Paparella and
Audrianna Green, then moved ahead 6-4 on a
Mary Grace Foster kill set by
Reese Regner. The teams traded points through the middle of the set, with
Caroline Downey,
Cydney Mitchell, Paparella and Foster each providing kills as the Blue and Gold held leads at 12-10, 15-14 and 16-15. After Mitchell's kill cut the late margin to 22-18, West Ala. scored the final three points to close the set.
The Choctaws fought back to 8-8 in the second set, but West Ala. broke that tie with six straight points and moved ahead 14-8. Earlier, MC erased a 7-3 deficit with four consecutive points, using two Downey service aces and a combined block from
Audrianna Green and
Cydney Mitchell to tie the set at 7-7. After West Ala. later pushed the margin to 17-9, Foster put down consecutive kills from
Reese Regner assists, and the Blue and Gold added blocks from Downey and
Rhaia Davey and from Mitchell and Green while getting back to 19-15. Mitchell added two more kills down the stretch, but West Ala. scored five of the final six points after the Choctaws got within 20-16 and took the set 25-17.
West Ala. moved ahead from a 15-15 tie with seven straight points, forcing MC to chase late in a 25-19 third-set finish. Earlier, the Choctaws opened the set with kills from
Rhaia Davey and Foster, with
Reese Regner assisting the first two points, before
Meg Paparella served four consecutive aces to build an 8-2 lead. West Ala. worked back into the set and went in front 15-14, but Foster answered with a kill from Regner to tie it at 15-15. After West Ala.'s run to 22-15, the Blue and Gold added late kills from Davey, Foster and
Cydney Mitchell, but West Ala. closed the set at 25-19.
Foster led the Choctaws with 13 kills and 13.5 points while hitting .233.
Meg Paparella recorded four service aces and 12 digs while adding five kills.
Reese Regner finished with a team-high 17 assists, and
Cydney Mitchell added eight kills with three block assists.
Up next, the Choctaws host Christian Brothers on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 6 p.m. in Clinton, Mississippi.
