MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. | Young Harris Volleyball fought to the very end, but dropped their final two matches at the Bobcat Classic on Saturday. The Mountain Lions lost 3-1 to Albany State and Georgia College. The Mountain Lions pushed both final sets past 25 and fought hard.
QUOTING HEAD COACH JENNY MICHAEL
"As I told the team at the end of that last match, this was a really good weekend in terms of it exposed some of our weaknesses and gave us lots of opportunities for feedback. We saw some things that we did well, and we have some time now before starting conference play to get back in the gym, get after it, work on some of these weaknesses, and continue to improve."
Michael continued, "What I loved that I saw is we never gave up, showed a lot of heart, and I am comfortable saying we had the best bench in the tournament, providing us with a lot of energy and excitement. I am proud of what we did in terms of that. I am very happy with how we competed. We did a much better job today not focusing solely on the scoreboard and instead focusing on the details."
MATCH #1 VS ALBANY STATE: 3-1
Abby Schrim led the Mountain Lions to an early 5-3 lead. After that the Rams found their momentum and went up 14-10. A kill from
Lily Hidalgo helped Young Harris close the deficit to three, 15-18. Albany State closed out the opening set, scoring seven of the last eight points for the 25-16 set win.
Young Harris didn't quit and came back with firepower in the second set.
Abby Schirm had three quick kills to open the set and put the Purple and White up 5-3.
Rylie Springer mashed one down to the hardwood to extend the lead to 8-3. The Golden Rams didn't go away and cut the deficit down to two, 13-11.
Kathryn Urbanek and
Abby Schirm scored back-to-back points, to spark momentum for YHC. Later in the set, an attacking error saw the Mountain Lions take the 19-13 advantage. Next, Albany State went on a long scoring run. Jordan Smith got the service ace and then later in the set, Kennedi Wallace's kill put the Golden Rams up 21-19.
Down 23-21, Young Harris dug deep and scored the next three points to take the lead.
Lyza Thigpen set it to Schirm, who scored to tie the set at 25. Both teams traded points. Then Rylee DeSimone found Urbanek for the kill. Schirm elevated on the left side and launched the ball to the hardwood for the Mountain Lions first set victory of the season!
Albany State bounced back and won the third and fourth sets 25-20 and 26-24 to take the match.
MATCH #2 VS GEORGIA COLLEGE: 3-1
Young Harris took the early 7-5 lead in set one, only to have it evaporate after a 10-1 scoring run from the Bobcats. Points from
Lauren DeSilets and
Kathryn Urbanek kept the Mountain Lions in it and cut the late deficit to four. Three straight points from Georgia College halted the comeback and secured the set for the hosts.
YHC battled back and took the second set 25-22. Points from DeSilets and
Nicole Klucharich gave Young Harris the 8-4 advantage. Both teams had 3-5 point runs in the middle of the set. Finally,
Alexa Berry had a big swing for a point to put the Mountain Lions ahead 17-16.
Joha Bernis had a beautiful service ace late and
Nicole Klucharich elevated and hammered home set point for the Purple and White.
The third set involved both teams rattling off long scoring runs. First, Georgia College strung together eight straight points. The Mountain Lions responded with a nine-point run to make it 14-12 in favor of the Bobcats. Georgia College scored four of the last seven points to take a 2-1 lead going into the fourth set.
Young Harris College showed grit and determination in the final set but fell 27-24. Down 20-15 late in the set, YHC didn't panic and fought back. Schirm swung on one to score and DeSilets had a service ace brought the Mountain Lions back within three. YHC scored two points off errors and then Klucharich found the hardwood for the kill to tie the set at 23. A service error put YHC up 25-24 with a chance for set point. Georgia College tied it back up at 25 and scored the next two points to secure the match.
UP NEXT
The Mountain Lions take some time to continue to improve before facing Lee University next Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.
