Pioneers Sweep The Court In Season Home Opening Tri-Match

Pioneers Sweep The Court In Season Home Opening Tri-Match- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 8-26-23

Crowley's Ridge hosted the Eagles of Williams Baptist University and the Eagles of Pensacola Christian College in a tri-match earlier this afternoon in their season home opener. The Lady Pioneers were coming off a 5-set loss to Harris-Stowe State University earlier on Thursday and looked to bounce back on their home court. When the final buzzer sounded the Pioneers would see their mission complete as they dramatically swept the day by going to a decisive set 5 in both matches and emerging victorious in both.  

Game One:

Crowley's Ridge- 3 sets

Williams Baptist- 2 sets

Paragould, Ark- CRC opened the tri-match and their season at home with a matchup against Highway 412 rival WBU. With the Eagles besting CRC twice last year the Pioneers were out for revenge. Set one started in favor of CRC as Emi Elms and Alexis Weirich got the Pioneers on the board first as they slammed back-to-back kills, giving CRC the 2-point lead but as the set wrapped up it would be WBU that would take the set by two points. CRC would fall in set one, 25-23. 

Set two CRC cranked it up a notch as the defense stood strong, forcing the Eagles to play from behind as they jumped ahead 5-1. WBU finally chipped their way back into the game as they tied the set at 9 but the score wouldn't stay that way for long as the Pioneers opened up a 7-2 run with Jadyn Hesse and Alexis Weirich connecting on offense while the front row stood firm shutting down the Eagle's attack. WBU attempted a  second comeback but an offensive wave from Alexis Weirich, Daisy Jackson, and Hannah Halverson ended the Eagle attempt as the Pioneers would go on their second 7-point run to take set 2,  25-16. 

Set three would tell the same story as the first set with the Eagles barely slipping past the Pioneers. CRC would fall behind 15-10 before catching fire and manufacturing a 7-0 run with Hannah Halverson capping the run with a service ace. CRC would even reach the 20 point mark first as they sat comfortably up 21-17, thanks to the help of yet another ace, this one by Jillian Glasgow. With the set all within their grasp, the Pioneers sadly wouldn't be able to finish off the Eagles allowing WBU to reclaim the lead and win the set 25-22. 

CRC entered set 4, behind, and looking for that spark to keep them alive in the match. The Pioneers found that spark as  Emi Elms and Hannah Halverson grabbed quick kills and  Heather Conaway's and Kinley Matlock's efforts on the back row allowed CRC to capitalize and take a demanding 18-10 point lead. CRC would go on to take the set 25-19 with Jillian Glasgow ending it with her 3rd service ace of the game.

Now entering their second consecutive 5th set contest of the season the Pioneers looked for a different outcome from their previous dual with HSSU which handed CRC their first loss of the season. WBU proved an honorable contender as they took the early lead and even reached the halfway point first but with revenge on CRC's side the Pioneers came out victorious with the assistance of a huge tide-turning 6-1 run from the Pioneers late in the second half. CRC would go on to win the set 15-12 and the match 3 sets to 2. 

Hannah Halveron and Emi Elms led in kills (13). Halverson also led in digs (34), followed by Kinley Matlock (25). Jadyn Hesse led in assists (27) followed by Jillian Glasgow (21) who also added (3) service aces. 

Game Two:

Crowley's Ridge- 3 sets

Pensacola Christian- 2 sets

Paragould, Ark.- With the Pioneers claiming their first win of the season they looked to add to it against a stout Pensacola Christian team. The Eagles of PCC proved to be tough, as they handed the Pioneers their biggest set deficit defeat of the season with a set one score of 25-16. CRC grabbed the lead for the first time about the midway point as Halverson topped off a 7-2 run with a kill, but the Pioneers wouldn't string anything else together in the remaining frames, thus losing the lead and set.  

Set two would have a similar outcome as CRC snuck a few more points past the Eagles but would eventually give the set to PCC. Daisy Jackson helped the Pioneers stay in tune with the Eagles as she linked up with Jillian Glasgow for the assist and kill making it 9-9 but not soon after that PCC would pull ahead and reach the finish line first with a set score of 25-19. 

  Set three is where CRC seemed to come alive in the contest though it wouldn't seem like it at first. Starting from behind once more, the Pioneers allowed PCC to produce 6 points before Crowley's Ridge would crack the scoreboard. The team in green would cut the score to 13-8 with the work of a kill from Daisy Jackson and a few freebie points from the Eagles, but they still managed to see themselves at a 7-point deficit, 16-9, after a huge PCC run. With Pensacola obtaining the 3-set sweep right around the corner, CRC decided they wanted to play ball just a little longer.  Jadyn Hesse fed Emi Elms a kill that jolted CRC back to life as the team chained an 8-1 run to tie the Eagles at 17-17. The Crowly's Ridge defense became almost impenetrable forcing 5 consecutive errors from the Eagles to demand a timeout, now trailing CRC 22-19. When play resumed, CRC quickly ended the set claiming it 25-20 and forcing Pensacola to play one more set. 

With little change in energy that was in favor of  CRC, the Pioneers kept the pedal to the metal in set 4. CRC ensured the set win after Paige Glenn, Alexis Weirich, and Hannah Halverson roped in a continuation of kills to take a 9-7 lead and encourage yet another PCC timeout. When play continued the Lady Pioneers operated like a well-oiled machine, running on all cylinders. Before long the Pioneers saw their labors reap success with a 25-13 set 4 win over Pensacola Christian.

For their third consecutive game, the Pioneer headed to the 5th set to decide who would take the match. CRC would give all the spectating fans a scare as they allowed the Eagles to climb ahead 5-2 but an explosive 7-2 run from CRC retook the lead for the final time. CRC would finalize its success by feeding Emi Elms for one more kill, defeating Pensacola Christian 15-12 in the 5th set. 

Hannah Halverson led in kills (12) while adding (18) digs. Jadyn Hesse handed out (16) assists and had (14) digs. Jillian Glasgow also reached double digits in assists and digs with (13) and (19). Kinley Matlock led the team in digs as she recorded (36)

The Lady Pioneers next contest will be against the Mustangs of CBC at home in the Carter Activites Center on 8/29/23.  

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