CLINTON, Miss. — Mississippi Christian (11-16, 8-7 Gulf South) defeated Montevallo (18-8, 10-5 Gulf South) 3-2 on Friday at A.E. Wood Coliseum. The Choctaws went from down 7-5 to ahead 10-8 in the fifth set before closing out a 15-13 finish.
MC won seven of eight rallies midway through the first set, coming back from a 14-8 deficit to tie Montevallo at 15-15 behind kills from
Rhaia Davey and
Meg Paparella, a
Rylie Widener ace and a Davey block. Earlier, the Blue and Gold opened with points from
Mary Grace Foster, Davey and Paparella to move ahead 5-3 before Montevallo answered to take a 7-5 lead.
Cydney Mitchell helped keep the Choctaws within reach with multiple kills during the middle of the set, and
Reese Regner added a kill that tied the score again at 17-17. Montevallo responded with the next two points and stayed in front from there, finishing the set with the final two points for a 25-20 win.
The Choctaws moved in front with a six-point surge from 9-10 to 15-10, using
Rhaia Davey's kill to side out before
Isabella Reyes, Foster and Davey contributed points during
Reese Regner's service turn. Earlier, MC opened with
Caroline Downey's kill and a Regner ace, then traded points with Montevallo as Davey, Foster,
Meg Paparella,
Cydney Mitchell and Reyes helped keep the set level through 9-9. After Montevallo closed the gap to 16-15, Davey's kill gave the Blue and Gold the serve back, and
Samarin Kipple served four straight points, including a
Cydney Mitchell kill and two Mitchell blocks on Eliza Tyrrell attacks, to make it 21-15. Mitchell added kills for the Choctaws' 23rd and 24th points, and MC finished the set 25-19 on a Montevallo attack error.
The Blue and Gold recovered from a 13-8 deficit, answered a late 17-16 Montevallo lead and won the third set 25-20. Earlier,
Caroline Downey opened the set with consecutive kills, one from
Reese Regner and one from
Samarin Kipple, before Montevallo moved in front and built its five-point margin.
Rhaia Davey and Foster helped the Choctaws work back, with Foster adding two kills from Regner as the deficit narrowed to 14-13, and a Montevallo service error plus two attack errors later put MC ahead 16-15. After Montevallo went back in front and the set reached 18-18,
Cydney Mitchell had three kills during a four-point Choctaws stretch that also included a
Meg Paparella service ace.
Harper Green added a kill from
Maeve Allen late, and MC reached set point before a Montevallo service error closed the set.
The Choctaws stayed close early before Montevallo put together a four-point stretch that moved the set from 12-9 to 16-9. Earlier,
Rhaia Davey opened the set with a kill from
Reese Regner, and
Mary Grace Foster's kill and
Meg Paparella's block helped MC pull even at 3-3. After falling behind, the Blue and Gold answered with a Foster kill, a Paparella kill from
Samarin Kipple and a Montevallo setting error to get within 17-13, then added late kills from Paparella, Regner and Downey. Downey's final kill and a Montevallo attack error brought the Choctaws to 23-20, but Montevallo took the last two points to finish the set 25-20.
MC won the deciding fifth set 15-13, rallying from a 7-5 deficit to move in front and then answering late after Montevallo pulled within one. Earlier, the Choctaws fell behind 6-2 before
Rhaia Davey and Foster had kills around a
Samarin Kipple service ace to cut the margin to 6-5. After Montevallo led 7-5, the Blue and Gold took five of the next six points, using a Montevallo service error, two attack errors, a
Meg Paparella kill and a Paparella ace to build a 10-8 lead. Downey delivered three kills after that point, including one for a 13-11 edge, and Foster put MC at set point with a kill for 14-12. Montevallo made it 14-13, but
Cydney Mitchell finished the set with a kill from
Mamie Fromdahl.
Cydney Mitchell finished with 14 kills on a .542 hitting percentage and totaled 16 points.
Rhaia Davey added 13 kills, hit .400 and posted three blocks while also totaling 16 points.
Reese Regner recorded 42 assists with seven digs and one service ace.
Meg Paparella collected 17 digs, eight kills and two service aces.
Up next, the Choctaws host UAH on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2 p.m. in Clinton, Miss.
