The Alma College Volleyball team hit the road Friday to participate in a dual meet held at the Merillat Center on the campus of Adrian College. The Scots took the first match against the host Bulldogs 3-1 (19-25,25-18,25-23,25-23) before dropping the second match of the evening to #8 University of Mount Union (OH) 3-0 (25-23,25-15,25-18).

Following the dual meet, the Scots are now 6-1 on the year after starting the season with a perfect 5-0 record.

"We had a very intense match versus Adrian and both teams kind of played up and down," said Alma Head Coach Sarah Dehring. "But, we played well enough to earn the win and it is always good to get a league victory."

"In the Mount Union match, we came out really strong and I am proud of how our girls played against the number eight team in the country.We had the one point lead in the second set before Mount Union scored 11 in a row to win and that kind of took a lot out of us."

"By the end, we were physically and mentally tired. We had just 30 minutes in between matches and the gym was extremely warm, so all of it eventually wore us down. We will now travel to Holland and get a good night's rest before playing Hope and the University of Chicago tomorrow."

Match one: Adrian College

The Scots put the first points on the board in set one when So. S Mary Dulzo (Novi/Mercy) connected with Fr. RS Dakota Pelach (Gaylord/Gaylord) for a kill, giving Alma the 1-0 lead. Following a point by the Bulldogs, Dulzo set up So. OH Sasha Laykova (Ternopil, Ukraine/Forest Hills Northern) for a kill and the Scots held the 2-1 advantage early. This would be the only lead Alma would have for the rest of the set and Adrian took the 25-19 victory to go up 1-0.

The second set saw the Bulldogs jump out to a 4-0 lead, but the Scots would answer with a 6-1 run to take the 6-5 lead early. Adrian would regain the lead at 7-6 but Alma would fight back and score the next six points to put them up 12-7. The Scots would not let the Bulldogs get any closer, ending the set on an 11-5 run to claim victory 25-18 and tie the score at 1-1.

The third set was a highly contested affair, with the largest lead for either side being just four points. With the score at 24-23, Jr. OH Hannah Guilford (Hartland/Hartland) sent in a kill off an assist from Dulzo to give Alma the slim 25-23 victory and the 2-1 set lead. 

Ahead 2-1 in the match, the Scots started the fourth set up 2-0. Both teams would exchange blows in the early parts of the set and following an Alma timeout the score read 7-7. The remainder of the set would see six more ties before Guilford would end the set and the match with a kill off a Dulzo assist. 

Guilford led all players with 20 kills while adding 11 digs. Dulzo had a game-high 44 assists and also contributed 11 digs. Laykova finished the match with 11 kills, seven digs and four service aces, while Sr. OH Laura Walker (Roscommon/Roscommon) chipped in 14 digs and four service aces.

Match two: #8 University of Mount Union

The Scots found themselves down early in the first set, trailing the Pioneers 3-0. Alma would not be shook however, battling back to tie the score 4-4 before a service ace by Guilford gave the Scots their first lead of the set at 5-4. Both teams would exchange the lead throughout the first set with Alma remaining close to it's nationally ranked opponent. A service error brought the Scots within one at 24-23, but an Alma attack error would end the set and give the pioneers the 1-0 advantage.

Set two proved to be another tight contest, following an early timeout the Scots would score four straight to knot the set at 11-11. Mount Union would quickly respond by going on a 14-5 run to close out the second set 25-15 to take a 2-0 set lead.

Mount Union would lead from the opening serve in the third set, not allowing Alma to get closer than two ties. The Pioneers left the Merillat Center with the 3-0 victory on Friday to remain unbeaten on the year.

Guilford led the Scots with nine kills and 11 digs and Dulzo added a team-high 21 assists and two service aces. So. RS Kendall Sells (Muskegon/Mona Shores) chipped in with five kills on Friday.

Alma returns to action tomorrow, traveling to Hope College for a dual meet set to start at 2:00 p.m. The Scots will take on host Hope College first then take on University of Chicago (IL) at 4:00 p.m.