NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Over the weekend your Mount St. Joseph University Women's Volleyball team kicked off their 2023 campaign by traveling to Christopher Newport to play a trio of contests. On Friday, September 1st the Lions faced off against the Fighting Muskies of Muskingum before taking on the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon and the Captains of Christopher Newport on Saturday. The Lions looked dominant in their first two matches of the weekend winning both matches and dropping just 1 set. In their final matchup, the Lions took down the AVCA #21 ranked Christopher Newport on their home court to complete a 3-0 road trip.
MATCH 1 | MOUNT - 3 MUSKINGUM - 1
In the first match of the new season the Lions faced off against the Fighting Muskies of Muskingum. A year ago, the Fighting Muskies were regionally ranked giving the Lions a tough matchup in their first match of the new year. The Lions quickly jumped out in front with a pair of kills from
Emma Sicking but would draw even at 10 after a couple of attacking errors. But, then the Lions would go on a 9-2 run including a pair of kills from both
Grace Young and
Hannah Graves giving the Lions a 19-12 lead in set one. The Lions would only drop 5 more points for the rest of the set as
Addie Conley closed out the 25-17 set victory with a kill.
To open up set two each squad would trade points before Muskingum scored 4 unanswered taking a 10-5 lead. However, after trailing 18-13 late the Lions would come storming back scoring 6 straight to take a 19-18 lead.
Emma Sicking led the charge with a pair of kills. But, Muskingum would answer back taking set two, 25-22. After dropping their first set of the campaign the Lions would respond nicely.
Emily Pfeifer led the way to begin the set with 2 kills giving the Lions a 6-3 lead. The Lions continued to pressure scoring 5 unanswered thanks to 2 more kills from Sicking and now leading 13-7. The 2 clubs would then trade points until the Lions would put the set away with 4 straight points winning set three 25-16.
In set four,
Hannah Graves led the charge to open up the set. Graves registered 3 kills as the Lions took a 7-3 advantage. Muskingum would fire back but the Lions went on another 4-0 run to stretch their lead to 15-10. Muskingum would trim their deficit to just 3 but couldn't get any closer as
Emily Pfeifer ended the set with 3 kills giving the Lions their first victory of the season over a talented Muskingum squad.
MATCH 2 | MOUNT - 3 RANDOLPH-MACON - 0
In the 2nd match of the weekend tournament the Lions faced off against the reigning ODAC champions, the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets. A year ago, the Yellow Jackets qualified for the NCAA tournament giving the Lions another early test. To begin the first set the Lions would trail 1-3 but answered with a 7-1 run giving them a 8-4 advantage. Each squad would then trade points until the Lions took 4 unanswered. Each team would then trade 3-point rallies as the Lions took a 21-15 lead. But, the Yellow Jackets would go on a run of their own scoring 7 unanswered to take a late 22-21 lead. But, the Lions would buckle down tying the score and would close the set out in extras with a
Emma Sicking kill to take set one 26-24.
In set two, the scoreline shifted back and forth with both squads looking to gain an edge. At the midway point, the teams were tied at 12 before the Lions would take a 15-14 advantage. But, they continued to trade points as the scoreline was tied back up at 18. But, the Lions finally were able to break through going on a 7-2 run to close out the set. Pfeifer and Graves both registered a pair of kills to take set two 25-20.
In set three, each squad would score in bunches. The Yellow Jackets took a 4-1 lead out of the gate but quickly found themselves knotted back up. The Yellow Jackets would again go on another run taking a 4 point lead before the Lions would draw within 1. But, Randolph-Macon would take a 5 point lead leaving the Lions with little room for error heading into the 2nd half of the set. Trailing 10-15, the Lions would go on a 8-2 run taking a 18-17 lead with kills from Sicking, Pfeifer, Young and Graves. Each squad would then trade before the Lions scored 3 straight to put the Yellow Jackets away 25-22 without surrendering a set.
MATCH 3 | MOUNT - 3 CHRISTOPHER-NEWPORT - 2
In the Lions third matchup of the weekend, this was the toughest test. The Lions faced off against the hosting team and #21 ranked Christopher-Newport. Christopher-Newport was looking to end their home tourney right with a win over the Lions but, The Mount had other plans. In the first set, the Captains took an early lead and didn't let go. The Lions would even the score at 7 but, the Captains would go on a 8-1 run building their lead to 15-8. After a 8 point deficit the Lions would come to life. 5 kills from Sicking and services aces to Graves and Young would power a 11-2 run giving the Lions a late 23-22 lead in the opening set. But, the Captains would gather and take down the Lions 26-24 to take a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, the Lions looked like a dominant force. They quickly jumped out to a 7-4 lead thanks to some errors from the Captains. The Captains would draw within 1 but that is as close as they would get as the Lions would go into a tear. After a 9-8 scoreline the Lions would take control allowing just 2 points for the rest of the set. A pair of service aces from both
Jasmine Butler and
Grace Wilking as well as 3 kills from Pfeifer powered the Lions offense as they made it look easy en route to a 25-10 set two victory.
In set three, the Captains looked to reset as each team traded leads. With the score tied at 9 the Captains would score 5 unanswered to take a 14-9 lead. But, the Lions would answer tying the game at 16 as Pfeifer, Young, Graves and Conley all recorded kills. The Captains again would take the lead however owning a 3 point, 22-19 cushion. The Lions would flatten the cushion going on a 6-1 run to close out the set. A pair of kills from Sicking gave the Lions a 25-23 victory nearing an upset of the preseason #21 ranked Christopher-Newport.
In set four, the Lions looked strong out of the gate owning a 6-2 advantage. After holding that lead into the midway point, the Captains would go on a run. The Captains would go on a 10-2 run taking a 19-16 lead late in the set. The Lions would respond though, scoring 4 straight to reclaim the lead at 20-19. Each squad would then trade points until the Captains would score 3 straight to close out the set, taking set 4 25-23.
In the 5th and final set the Lions were looking to play spoiler. The Captains wasted no time grabbing the lead, as they held a 5-1 advantage. But, the Mount roared back tying the game at 5 thanks to a pair of service aces from
Erin Androne and a pair of kills from Graves. The Captains would then retake control scoring 4 straight taking a 9-5 lead. But again, each squad would exchange blows as the Lions would tie the set at 9. Each squad then traded points as the scoreline read 13-13 in a highly contested matchup. The Lions would then slam the door shut with a pair of kills from Pfeifer and an attacking error from the Captains as the Lions claimed victory 15-13 in set 5.
2 Lions were awarded All-Tournament Team honors. Libero
Erin Androne and Setter
Jasmine Butler both earned the All-Tournament nod after impressive weekends. Androne was a force defensively tallying 65 digs averaging 5.42 digs/set while making just 1 error. Butler was impressive from the setter position posting 116 assists in a high-powered offensive attack. Freshman
Emma Sicking looked dominant in her debut weekend for the Lions. Sicking lead the Lions in kills with 48 while posting a .224 hitting percentage. Senior
Emily Pfeifer continued her success from a year ago following just behind with 37 kills for the weekend while hitting .217 and adding 5 blocks. Sophomore
Hannah Graves also contributed offensively adding 34 kills in 3 matches. Senior
Grace Young also continued her success from last year posting 20 kills and 3 blocks.
UP NEXT: Your Mount St. Joseph Lions are back in action next weekend as they travel to Bloomington, Ill. to compete at the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament. The Lions will face off agains the hosting Titans of Illinois Wesleyan on Friday, September 8th at 7 PM. The Lions will faceoff against the #16 Pointers of Wisconsin Stevens-Point and the Falcons of Concordia on Saturday. Games are scheduled to begin at 10:30 AM and 12 PM respectively. Be sure to tune into msjlions.com and follow us on X @msj_lions for continued coverage of your MSJ Women's Volleyball team and all MSJ Athletics!
