On Saturday, Sept. 22, the Lady Lions started the match with a win in the first set. However, the Cardinals gained momentum and outscored the Lady Lions the rest of the way. The final set scores for the Lady Lions were 25-23, 18-25, 15-25 and 19-25.

“The first set we came out clanging, and we did really well.” said Elyssa Purcell, senior right side hitter. “The second and third, you can tell, they started picking up their game, and in the fourth set, we tried coming back and fought hard, but the other team just beat us.”

Purcell led the Lady Lions with 11 kills. Haley Baker, a senior setter, led the team with 25 assists while sophomore outside hitter Caroline Golden added 10 digs.

After the match, Jim Smoot, head volleyball coach, reflected on how he viewed his team’s performance against the Cardinals.

“I thought our biggest problem was we got way ahead quite a bit in the first set, and we let them come back,” said Smoot. “They have to understand they can’t do that because now it gives the other team momentum. So, we try to get them to learn how to close the game and how to attack that better.

With the loss, the Lady Lions’ record stands at 1-11 overall and 0-1 in the conference play. The Lady Lions will move on to face the University of Central Arkansas in a road matchup on Sept. 25.