Wilmington, OH – Alma College Volleyball continued play at Wilmington College on Saturday, playing two neutral site games. The Scots suffered their first loss of the season against Hiram, before defeating Franklin College in five sets.
 
Hiram 3, Alma 0
Alma opened the day against Hiram College. In a closely contested game, the Scots dropped three close sets by scores of 25-21, 25-20, and 25-19. In set one, the Scots allowed Hiram to get out to a four-point lead at 9-5. The Scots clawed back to a one-point deficit. However, the Terriers eeked out the win with a push. Set two was a similar story, with the opposition using a handful of two- and three-point bursts to get ahead by four points. It proved to be all the difference, with Hiram taking the set. The final set saw Alma keep it close until Hiram go up to a five-point lead at 16-11. The Scots were unable to recover despite a strong push towards the end of the game.

Madison Munley led with eight kills, and a quartet of Scots players each came up with four. Vicky Villarosa had 12 assists, and Olivia Deeb 11 to go with five aces from the service line. Grace Steiner had a team high 23 digs to lead the defense, and Emily Carling had 14.
 
Alma 3, Franklin 2
In game two Alma took on Franklin College, jumping out to a 6-2 lead in the first set. Alma held on after a Franklin push, and stretched their lead to 18-11. One more Scots run saw Alma take the set, 25-16. Set two took a similar tone early on, only for Franklin to go on a run and lead 11-7 midway through the set. The Scots didn't go away, fighting to a 17-17 tie, and surging to a 25-19 set victory. 

With a two-set lead, it was Franklin who responded with an early 5-2 lead in set three. Alma hung in until a Grizzlies run at 11-9 saw FC leading 17-9. The Scots weren't able to recover, dropping the set 25-16. In the fourth, it was neck-and-neck down the stretch, with neither team able to pull away. Alma led 24-20, but it was Franklin who reeled off six straight points to force a fifth set.
In the final set, Alma opened with a 2-0 lead, but a 5-1 run from the Grizzlies saw the Scots trail 5-3. Franklin made it as high as 11-6 before Alma closed the game out with a 10-3 run, including three aces late in the game that sealed the deal.

Natalie Dutton led with 13 kills, and Maggie McKale added 10 more. Villarosa collected 20 set assists, and Deeb 18. The Scots managed a whopping 17 aces in the game, with Villarosa leading the charge at five, followed by Deeb with four, and Steiner and Carling with two. Steiner led with 14 digs, and Rachel McGlothin had 13.

The Scots return home at 6-1, and look forward their 2025 home opener on Tuesday against Heidelberg.