Pioneers Swat Hornets

Pioneers Swat Hornets – Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 11/1/2024

The Lady Pioneers picked up their third conference win of the season as they defeated the Hornets of Harris-Stowe State University this evening in the Carter Activities Center. The Pioneers now sit 7-13 on the season and 3-5 in the American Midwest Conference. Sets went as follows: 25-13 CRC, 20-25 HSSU, 25-23 CRC, and 26-24 CRC.

Paragould, Ark. – This evening's contest would go for sets with the Lady Pioneers emerging victorious over the Hornets of HSSU. In the opening set, the Pioneers dominated by cruising their way to a 12-point win of 25-13 before facing backlash from the Lady Hornets. The second set would play differently as the Hornets swarmed the Pioneers, controlling the set from start to finish, stuffing every Pioneer attack, which assisted them in claiming the set with a five-point difference to even the set score one to one. 

In set three, the Pioneers faced much of the same Hornet gameplay as HSSU once again forced CRC on their heels for the majority of the set. Fighting from behind, the tipping point of this set came from a last-minute CRC timeout as the Pioneers trailed the Hornets 20-23. When play resumed, the Pioneers mustered a huge 5-0 run which ended with senior Jadyn Hesse winning the set for CRC with back-to-back service aces, lifting the advantage back in Pioneer favor.

In this evening's final frame, it would again come down to the wire as both teams burned critical timeouts within the set's final points in hopes of trying and swing momentum back to their side. Fortunately for Pioneers fans, senior Hannah Halverson and sophomore Brooklyn Cross would deliver for the team, as Halverson slammed the go-ahead point to the hardwood, allowing Cross to handle the final point with the Little Rock native ending the contest with a final kill up the gut.

Hannah Halverson led the offense with a double-double of 13 kills and 11 digs. Mallory Hollis led in total digs with 15 with 3 service aces. Jadyn Hesse led in assists with 18 and also added 3 service aces in the conference win. 

Up Next: CRC hosts UHSP tomorrow in the Carter Activities Center at 12:00 PM. #GOPIONEERS