CLINTON, Miss. — Mississippi Christian lost to Valdosta St. 3-1 on Friday at A.E. Wood Coliseum. The Choctaws took the opening set 25-17 before dropping the next three 24-26, 23-25 and 16-25.
The Blue and Gold answered a 6-6 tie by winning seven of the next eight rallies, turning the opening set into a 13-7 lead behind kills from
Caroline Downey and
Ellie Foco, a service ace and Valdosta St. errors. Earlier,
Meg Paparella and
Cydney Mitchell helped MC build an early 5-1 edge, with Paparella recording a kill and Mitchell contributing a block and a kill before Valdosta St. pulled the set even. After the score reached 15-11, the Choctaws strung together four straight points, with Paparella putting down two kills around two Valdosta St. attack errors to make it 19-11. Valdosta St. made a late push from 22-13 to 22-17, but Mitchell answered with a kill, added a service ace and assisted Downey on the final kill as MC finished the set 25-17.
The Choctaws stayed within a point deep into the second set and moved ahead 23-22 on a Valdosta St. attack error before the visitors answered late. Earlier,
Meg Paparella opened the set with two kills off
Reese Regner assists, and
Holland Williams added front-row points, including a block-assisted point for a 4-2 edge and a kill that made it 6-4. After Valdosta St. pushed ahead in the middle stages, MC repeatedly pulled even, with
Cydney Mitchell,
Anna Grace Chason and Williams contributing kills and
Mamie Fromdahl adding a service ace for a 16-15 lead. Williams later tied the set at 24-24 with a kill from Regner, but Valdosta St. took the final two points to win the set 26-24.
MC pushed the third set to the wire after falling behind late, tying it at 21-21 on a
Cydney Mitchell kill and a
Holland Williams kill from
Reese Regner. Earlier, the Choctaws built a 5-1 lead with help from an
Audrianna Green kill, a
Holland Williams block and Valdosta St. errors before Valdosta St. answered to move in front 9-7. The Blue and Gold kept finding responses through Williams,
Meg Paparella,
Harper Green and Mitchell as the set tightened through the middle stages.
Audrianna Green tied it again at 22-22, and
Harper Green answered for a 23-23 tie, but Valdosta St. took the final two points to claim the set 25-23.
The Blue and Gold battled back into the fourth set twice, but Valdosta St. closed with the final four points to take the set 25-16. Earlier,
Holland Williams' block and kill helped the Choctaws erase a 5-2 deficit, and
Meg Paparella followed with a kill from Fromdahl to tie it at 5-5. MC answered again from 10-7 down, with Paparella and Downey finishing kills before a Valdosta St. attack error evened the set at 10-10. Valdosta St. later moved ahead 18-13 and 21-15, and although Downey and Paparella provided late kills for the Choctaws, the visitors finished the set on two MC errors and kills by Eva LaRochelle and Kinsley Timmons.
Holland Williams led MC with 15 points, 11 kills, a .476 hitting percentage and four solo blocks.
Meg Paparella finished with a team-high 12 kills, 10 digs and one service ace.
Samarin Kipple collected 21 digs.
Reese Regner recorded 19 assists and seven digs.
Up next, MC hosts AUM on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 2 p.m. in Clinton, Miss.
