CLINTON, Miss. — Mississippi Christian lost to Trevecca Nazarene 3-1 on Saturday at A.E. Wood Coliseum. The Choctaws' second-set push, turning a 16-14 deficit into a 19-17 lead before taking the set 25-20, was not enough to overcome Trevecca Nazarene.
MC fell into an early 7-1 deficit in the first set, with
Cydney Mitchell putting down the team's first kill off a
Samarin Kipple assist. The home side answered a 12-3 hole with three straight points, including a
Rylie Widener service ace, to get back to 12-6. Trevecca Nazarene responded with six consecutive points, pushing the margin to 18-6 before
Mary Grace Foster ended the stretch with a kill from
Sophia Saxon. The Blue and Gold added late offense from Mitchell,
Meg Paparella,
Rhaia Davey and
Harper Green, but Trevecca Nazarene closed out the set 25-14.
The Choctaws turned the second set by erasing a 16-14 deficit and scoring five of the next six points, with
Emma Levingston putting the home side ahead at 17-16 and
Rhaia Davey adding two kills in the stretch. Earlier, MC opened with Foster contributing three early kills and later led 8-5 before Trevecca Nazarene worked back to tie the set and move ahead. After Trevecca Nazarene tied the set again at 19-19,
Cydney Mitchell answered with a kill,
Reese Regner followed with a service ace during a three-point push, and Mitchell added another kill for a 23-20 lead.
Meg Paparella served an ace at set point before a Trevecca Nazarene setting error closed the Choctaws' 25-20 set win.
The Blue and Gold stayed within reach throughout the third set, but Trevecca Nazarene's mid-set push created the separation in a 25-20 set. Earlier,
Emma Levingston,
Cydney Mitchell and Foster supplied kills while
Rhaia Davey and Mitchell were involved in blocks, and MC moved ahead 4-2 before the set tightened again. Trevecca Nazarene broke from a 12-10 score to 16-10 with an ace and MC attack errors, forcing the home side to work from a larger deficit. The Choctaws responded late with a Foster block, a
Harper Green kill and another Foster kill to get to 21-17, then added a Foster kill and a Davey block before Trevecca Nazarene closed out the set at 25-20.
The Choctaws stayed within a point through the early part of the fourth set, answering early Trevecca Nazarene points with kills from
Rhaia Davey,
Cydney Mitchell and Foster before Davey tied it at 11-11 off a
Sophia Saxon assist. Earlier,
Rylie Widener's serve helped MC move in front 3-1, and Mitchell later combined a block point with a kill from
Reese Regner to keep the set tight at 8-6. Trevecca Nazarene pushed ahead after the 11-11 tie, building a 17-13 lead before a service error gave The Blue and Gold a sideout. Foster added a kill to bring MC within 14-13, but Trevecca Nazarene continued to create separation and finished the set on the last four points for a 25-16 result.
Foster led the Choctaws with 11 kills and 12 points, adding one block.
Samarin Kipple recorded a team-high 22 digs.
Reese Regner finished with 15 assists, 14 digs and a service ace.
Cydney Mitchell added seven kills, seven digs and two solo blocks.
Up next, MC travels to Memphis, Tenn., to face Christian Brothers on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m.
