DANVILLE, Ky. (CentreColonels.com) – The Centre volleyball team hosted its yearly tri-match on Saturday, welcoming the Berry Vikings and Hanover Panthers to Alumni Gym for a pair of matches. The Colonels went 1-1 for the day, defeating the Vikings in four sets before losing to Hanover, also in four.

The opening set of the match against Berry was a battle until the end, featuring eight lead changes and 15 ties. Neither team led by more than four points the entire way as both the Colonels and Vikings fought off set points. Trailing 26-25, freshman Keeley Morton (Bristol, Tenn.) tied the score with a clutch kill and then the Colonels capitalized on Berry errors to take a hard-fought 29-27 win.

 

Centre stormed out of the gate in the second set with senior Shelby Foote (Prospect, Ky.) and freshman Samantha Goldizen (Cincinnati, Ohio) combining for three aces in the early stages of the match as Centre took a 12-3 lead. Berry slowly clawed back and cut the lead to 22-19 before a timeout by coach James Neyhouse killed the momentum and the Colonels responded with the final three points of the match to win by a score of 25-19.

 

Looking to put the match away in straight sets, Centre held a small lead for the early part of the third set before the Vikings scored 11 consecutive points. Centre could not recapture the momentum and Berry extended the match with a 25-17 victory.

 

Trailing 12-10 in the fourth set with the prospects of a fifth and deciding set looming, Centre scored eight of the next ten points to surge ahead. The Vikings kept their cool and pushed the set to the brink as once again both teams fought off multiple set points. Finally, Shelby Foote and Keeley Morton combined to block the final Berry scoring effort as Centre won by a score of 30-28.

 

Junior Hailey Foote (Prospect, Ky.) led Centre with 15 kills, followed by Shelby Foote with 14 kills. Shelby Foote and senior Katherine Hagan (Whitesville, Ky.) each paced the Colonels with 17 assists in the match. Junior Morgan Babey (LaGrange, Ky.) led four Colonels in double digit digs with 28 as freshman Peyton Vacala (Savannah, Ga.) finished with 18 digs, Shelby Foote added 14 and Hailey Foote contributed 13 digs.

 

Against Hanover, the Colonels picked up where they left off at the end of the Berry match, using a late run of four straight points to take the lead for good, eventually taking a 1-0 match lead with a 25-22 win.

 

The Panthers ran off a string of eight consecutive points midway through the second set. The Colonels pulled to within one point on two separate occasions but could not get over the hump as Hanover won 25-22.

 

The final two sets saw Hanover jump out to big early leads and never look back. The Panthers went up 10-3 in the third set and won by a score of 25-17. In the fourth set, Hanover scored the opening six points of the contest and pulled away to the 25-15 victory to finish off the match.

 

Hailey Foote led the Colonels with 13 kills against Hanover. Shelby Foote led Centre with 23 assists while Katherine Hagan added a dozen helpers. Morgan Babey finished with a game high 23 digs, with Peyton Vacala adding 14 kills.

 

The Colonels will be back in action with a noon game on Sunday against the Stormy Petrels of Oglethorpe.