Hochstetler records 1,000th kill in victory over Pioneers
Lauren Hochstetler recorded her 1,000th career kill in the 3-1 win against Tusculum Tuesday evening. Mars Hill volleyball has won three straight at Stanford Arena.
MARS HILL, N.C. - Lauren Hochstetler recorded her 1,000th career kill in the 3-1 win against Tusculum Tuesday evening. Mars Hill volleyball has won three straight at Stanford Arena.
Coming into the contest 10 kills shy of the milestone, Hochstetler eclipsed the mark in the fourth set, knocking down three kills to help solidify the conference victory over the Pioneers. Her milestone comes 10 days after teammate and fellow senior, Rebecca Butler, accomplished the feat.
Returning home for the first time in the last eight games, the Lions put on an offensive display with three players accumulating over 10 kills.
The Lions dominated the first set, hitting .292 with Maddie Spurgeon's four kills pacing the offense. Mars Hill led by as many as seven points three separate times in the set and were able to close it out, 25-19, off of a service error from Melissa Mazur.
Tusculum evened up the contest by taking the second set, 25-23. Neither team had a lead larger than two points throughout. A kill from Laryssa Welch sent the game into the third set. It was Welch's fifth kill up to that point. She finished with eight on the evening.
In a set that was a bit more open than the previous, the Lions found themselves trailing 15-16 midway through. Led by Butler's six kills in the frame, Mars Hill won 10 of the next 16 points to go up 2-1 heading into the final set.
The Lions capitalized on Pioneers' errors and ran away with the fourth set, 25-15. Sally Anne Johnson led the Lions with five kills in the stanza. For the third time in the contest, Mars Hill secured a set off of a Tusculum error. Johnson and Spurgeon combined for the game-ending block.
Mars Hill avenged an earlier four set loss to the Pioneers to even up the season series.
Johnson led all players with 13 kills on the evening. Hochstetler and Butler each had 12, while contributing 32 and 20 digs, respectively. Sarah Pasour notched 32 assists, followed by Abby King's 22. Elizabeth Kaeser had a game-high three aces.
Mariah Lewis and Cassie Born tied for the Pioneers' lead in kills with 10 each. Born also had a game-high three blocks. Shannon Murphy led all players with 39 assists and added 22 digs.
Mars Hill improves to 7-13 (5-8 SAC) and have won their last two contests. Tusculum falls to 14-10 (9-5 SAC).
The Lions will return to the road to take on Queens Friday, October 27 at 7 p.m. They follow up that contest the next day on the road against Wingate. Match is slated for a 2 p.m. start.
