Alma, Mich. - On Wednesday evening (Sept. 16), the Alma College volleyball team hosted Albion College in an MIAA match at the Art Smith Arena. The Scots defeated the Britons by a score of 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 26-24 and 27-25) and now have a mark of 2-6 overall and 2-2 in the league. After the loss, Albion stands at 6-3 in 2015 and 102 in the MIAA. 

In the first set, Alma jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after a kill from senior Hannah Guilford (Hartland, Mich./Hartland). Both teams fought hard as it would be a back and forth game with the score knotted five separate occasions. Alma would pull ahead after going on a 6-1 run in the final points taking the match 25-21.

Alma took the 8-7 lead due to an attacking error by Albion but the Britons answered quickly going on an 8-1 run to regain the 15-9 lead. A block assist from senior Maggie Miller (Frankfort, Mich./Frankfort) and sophomore Dakota Pelach (Gaylord, Mich./Gaylord) tied the match up 18-18. Alma never trailed again and took the second match 25-20.

In the third set Alma maintained the lead the majority of the game and was only one point away from sealing the game in three sets. The score was at 24-20 but Albion answered with six unanswered points to force the Scots in to set three after the 24-26 loss.

The deciding fourth set was tied at 8-8 before the Scots went on 16-9 run that put the Britons on the brink of defeat. Albion put up a fight though by scoring the next six points before Alma notched the final two and secured the 27-25 set win and the 3-1 match triumph.

Guilford recorded her fourth double double of the season with 16 kills and 22 digs while sophomore Kara Muxlow (Brown City, Mich./Brown City) had a career high 10 kills in the evening.

Alma will travel to the Ohio Wesleyan Tournament this weekend, (Sept. 18-19) where they will first go against John Carroll. The first match is set for 2:00 p.m. on September 18. Sophomore Dorothy Buening (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) also topped off the evening with a double double of her own on 10 kills and 17 digs. 

QUOTES

Head Coach Sarah Dehring

on the win...

"We controlled the floor well in almost every game, the girls played together and hard which we've been needing to see. We still need to focus on finishing a match as that killed us in the third set and almost made it costly in the fourth."