Mesa, ARIZ.- The Spirit's winning streak ends at 4 after a closely contested 3-1 set loss to Benedictine Mesa on Friday night. The loss moves the Spirit to 9-6 and their conference record of 4-2 which dropped OUAZ to fourth place in the GSAC.
Set 1:
The first set was a back-and-forth affair, but ultimately ended in a 25-22 loss. Kaitlin Brown led the team with four kills and a service ace, with Katy Shockey having three kills, and Lauren Wamsley and Jessica Pearce each having two kills of their own.
Set 2:
The Spirit responded in the second set to get 25-18 set victory. Pearce led the team with four kills, followed by Shockey with three kills. Logan Kuehn, Jenna Sarff, and Wamsley each added two kills of their own to help the winning effort.
Set 3:
After being tied 22-22, the RedHawks scored the next three points to give the Spirit a 25-22 set loss. Wamsley led the way with four kills, with two kills by both Brown and Pearce. Brown and Reegan Shoquist each had services aces during the set.
Set 4:
The Spirit had a hard-fought effort to tie the set at 23-23, but ultimately fell to the RedHawks 25-23. Wamsley and Shockey led the way with four kills each, followed by Pearce with three kills, and Brown with two kills. Ka'ena Kekaualua also had two service aces in the effort.
Top Performers:
Despite the loss, the Spirit had some great performances on the night. Wamsley continued to add to her great season with 13.5 points, which included 12 kills, 16 digs, and a service ace. Brown also played well with 13.5 points, eight kills, 14 digs, three service aces, and three blocking assists. Shockey and Pearce also put solid games together with 12.5-point performances that included 11 kills and blocking assists each. The Spirit also got contributions from Kuehn (4.5 points, four kills, and 17 assists), Poalinetti (21 assists and one service ace), Shoquist (12 digs and two service aces), and Rainaud (24 digs and four assists).
Up Next:
The Spirit will look to bounce back tomorrow and finish the week strong as they head on the road to face longtime rival Arizona Christian (13-10 Overall, 2-4 Conference) Saturday, October 12th, at 2pm.
