Coach Amy Draper’s home debut with the Skyhawk volleyball team didn’t quite go as she had planned as UTM fell to the Lady Bisons of Lipscomb University, 3-1.

The Skyhawks got off to a strong start by dominating game one. Middle Kathryn Sprague opened the match with a kill and freshman Megan Hitt added a service ace as the Skyhawks claimed an early 3-0 lead.

Lipscomb hurt themselves by committing several errors. They finished the game with a total of 13, including four service errors.
By the first time out, the Skyhawks held a 10-4 lead. They dominated play around the net, led by senior Rebecca Palmer’s five kills. Sophomore Jamie Hollins added four kills as the Skyhawks cruised to a 30-17 win.

The second game began in much the same way as the previous game, with the Skyhawks continuing to capitalize on Lipscomb errors. Palmer and Hollins continued their great play, combining for 11 kills in the game.

Despite their errors, the Lady Bisons were able to hang around and trailed by only one heading into a Skyhawk time out, 18-17.
When play resumed, the Lady Bisons built some momentum and took the lead, 20-18. They were able to stretch the advantage to as many as four points at 27-23 before the Skyhawks began a furious late rally.

A flurry of Skyhawk points cut the lead in half and forced a Lipscomb time out. The break in the action was not enough to cool off the Skyhawks and they continued to cut into the lead, eventually tying the score at 29.

After the Skyhawks regained the lead, 31-30, the teams traded points down the stretch. Lipscomb finally claimed the game on consecutive Skyhawk errors, 35-33.

The extended second game appeared to affect both teams in the third game. Lipscomb opened the scoring with two quick points before the Skyhawks jumped out in front.

Megan Hitt tied the score at two with a service ace, then the Skyhawks took the lead on kills by Jamie Hollins and Kathryn Sprague. Lipscomb fed off the momentum of its win in game two and continued to hold a lead until freshman Sarah Jett tied the game at 10. From that point, the score swung back and forth between the teams several times.

A Jamie Hollins kill gave the Skyhawks their final lead at 25-24 before Lipscomb pulled away to win the game, 30-27. The Lady Bisons racked up 23 kills in the game, compared to 18 by the Skyhawks. UTM out hit Lipscomb .295 to .246 and forced nine errors while committing only five themselves.

UTM jumped out to another early lead in the final game but seemed rattled when Lipscomb rallied to tie the game at 5. The Skyhawks refused to let the Lady Bisons take control of the game and continued to give themselves a chance to win.

They claimed the lead, 11-10, on a kill by Rebecca Palmer and stretched it to 15-12 after a service ace by Tammy Konitzer. Lipscomb answered UTM’s challenge with five unanswered points to take the lead for good, 17-15. They extended the lead to as many as four points en route to clinching the match with a 30-26 win. The Skyhawks out hit the Lady Bisons .171 to .124 for the match. They also held a service advantage with seven aces and nine errors. The Lady Bisons finished with only three aces and fourteen errors. Defensively, they picked up 61 digs to the Skyhawks’ 59.

Coach Draper was not pleased with the outcome of her first home match with the Skyhawks.

“It was pretty disappointing, to say the least. I think this team is capable of winning, but until they believe they can win, we won’t be at the point where we can win. They’ve got the skills. They showed that in the first game. That’s the team I coach everyday in practice. But until they bring that team to game time, we will continue to have the same outcome,” she said.

The loss dropped the Skyhawks’ record to 1-12 as they headed to the Mississippi State Tournament where they dropped matches to Arkansas-Little Rock and Mississippi State, both 3-0. They picked up their second win of the year, beating Louisianna-Lafayette, 3-1.

The Skyhawks return to OVC play at 7 p.m. Friday against Southeast Missouri and again at 2 p.m. against Eastern Illinois in the Skyhawk Fieldhouse.