The Alma College Volleyball team hosted Olivet College in a MIAA battle on Friday evening at Art Smith Arena. The Scots came out victorious by a margin of 3-1 (25-14, 25-12, 24-26, 30-28) to win their third match in a row.

With the win, the Scots are now 7-5 in the MIAA and 14-14 overall, while Olivet fell to 1-12 in the league and 5-17 in 2014.

"We started off playing well and controlling the speed of the match," remarked Alma Head Coach Sarah Dehring. "The pace got a little slower in sets three and four and we struggle to play that type of game. But, we won and now tomorrow is another big match for us."

The Scots came out strong in the first two sets and it looked as though it would be a easy evening for the home team. However, Olivet fought back valiantly and made it quite interesting in the final two sets.

In set one, Alma jumped out to a 3-0 lead and extended it to 6-1 early on before Olivet settled down. At 8-4, the Scots went on a 7-0 run to extend their advantage to 15-4. Alma would eventually lead 20-9 before ultimately prevailing 25-14.

The Comets scored the first point of the second set before Alma established an 9-4 advantage. At that point, the Scots outscored Olivet by a mark of 12-4 to lead by a score of 21-8. Alma would ride that momentum to a 25-12 final margin of victory.

The third match was competitive from the beginning and would see a total of 10 ties before it was over. Olivet had Alma on the ropes at 24-21 before the home team scored three in a row, the last being off of an attack error by the Comets. However, the visitors recovered after a timeout and notched the next two points for the 26-24 victory.

Building off that momentum, Olivet jumped out to a 8-2 lead in the fourth set and would still hold a lead of 12-8 at one point. The Scots answered with a run of 10-2 to take a 18-14 lead in a see-saw affair.

However, the Comets are a resilient bunch and would claw their way back to tie it at 24-24 as the nervous Alma home crowd watched from the stands. The two teams slugged it out from there and found themselves still deadlocked at 28-28 before Alma would score the final two points. A service error by Olivet made it 29-28 and then a match ending kill by Alma So. RS/OH Kendall Sells (Muskegon/Mona Shores) gave the home team the 30-28 win.

This allowed the Scots to earn the hard-fought 3-1 match victory and send the crowd home in a good mood.

Statistically, Sells and Sr. OH Kayla Muxlow (Brown City/Brown City) led a very balanced Alma attack with eight kills a piece, while Jr. OH/DS Hannah Guilford (Hartland/Hartland) finished with seven. So. S Mary Dulzo (Novi/Mercy) had a team-high 25 assists, while So. OH/DS Maressa Miller (Grand Blanc/Grand Blanc) recorded 11.

So. DS/L Molly Lark (Middleville/Thornapple-Kellogg) had a squad-best 19 digs and was followed by So. OH/DS Sasha Laykova (Ternopil, Ukraine/Forest Hills Northern), who had 14 and Dulzo, who contributed 10. Dulzo, Laykova and Miller all had three service aces in the match win.

Up next for the Scots is a date with Albion College tomorrow. The match down in Albion is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.