The Calvary Lady Cavs had a lot of anticipation in their matchup on Thursday night at Loyola. The Lady Cavs will have their first winning season in their brief five-year existence. Calvary will achieve the most wins in school history with 13 with the win over Loyola. Finally, this will be their first win against the Lady Flyers ever.
The Lady Cavs knew the win would not come easy, but the win did come on the road with a sweep of the Lady Flyers in three sets 25-22, 25-15, 26-24. This was the fourth consecutive match that Calvary had won in straight sets.
Jaime Fielder kept the play alive for the Lady Cavs with 21 digs. Audrey Baldwin once again set up the scoring for Calvary with 16 assists, 8 digs, and 5 kills. Kiya Casey brought home a volleyball triple-double with 18 digs, 16 kills, and 12 assists. Taylor Darner kept the net safe with 5 kills, 2 blocks, 2 digs, and 2 aces. Alexandra Parker led the serving scoring with 3 aces.
Calvary quickly stole the first point and with Casey serving, the Cavs jumped out to their normal early lead at 4-1. Loyola was not going to be their normal opponent. The Lady Flyer took tied the first set at 5-5 and took the lead to 8-12 before Calvary called timeout to stop Loyola’s lead to get out of hand. Calvary chased the Lady Flyers late into the first set still down 19-20. A spike by Casey tied the set at 20. Darner pushes the kill in front of the net to give Calvary the late lead. A couple of miscues by the Lady Flyers and Calvary is leading 23-20. Casey brings Calvary back around to 24-21. Finally, Casey sets up Covington in the front corner for the slam to end the first set 25-22.
Calvary once again struggled at the beginning of the set but staying close enough to stay in striking distance. Finally, catching the Lady Flyers at 7-7 and taking the lead to 9-8. Alexandra Parker’s serving set saw 12 consecutive points for the Lady Cavs including a couple of aces by Parker, 2 kills by Casey, a kill by Covington, and a block by Darner. With the commanding 21-9. Loyola made a small comeback, but Calvary closed out the second set 25-15.
In the third set, neither team could get much momentum. Loyola hung tightly to the lead despite Calvary tying the set numerous times. Loyola looked to take the third set holding a 24-22 lead and one point away to sending the match to a fourth set. Back to back Baldwin taps over the net resulted in a return back into the net for the Flyers and a tie at 24 forcing a win by two scenario. Covington’s serve started the volley that ended with a controversial double-hit violation against Loyola. The last point was a slammed return by Loyola that landed out of bounds on the side giving the Lady Cavaliers the 26-24 win.
Calvary was scheduled to have back to back Division I opponents in Parkway and Benton on the road, but COVID-19 has put the Lady Panthers on the sideline and making the Lady Cavs wait until next Friday to head to Benton to keep their 13-0 record unblemished.
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