Hastings, Neb. – The Mayville State Volleyball team split a doubleheader on Friday defeating Kansas Wesleyan in three and lost to Oklahoma Panhandle State in four. The Comets move to 1-2 early in the regular season.
Game One: Mayville State 3, Kansas Wesleyan 0
The Comets started game one quickly as they doubled up the Coyotes 8-4 early in the first set from kills from Passa, Richards, and Pyburn. MSU continued to extend their lead as they lead by as many as seven throughout the first set. The Comets finished the first set on a 7-2 run to win the first one 24-16.
Mayville State continued the momentum from the end of the first set with an 8-3 run to start the second set. KWU would battle back when they started a 4-0 run to cut the lead to one. Both teams were trading points throughout the middle of the second set before as the game was tied at 20 late in the second set. KWU would score three straight points to force a Comet timeout. After the timeout, the Comets stormed back and tied the game at 23. Both teams had multiple set points throughout the late stages of the set and two kills from Passa secured the 29-27 second set victory.
KWU jumped out to an early lead on MSU in the third set by a score of 10-6. With the Comets down three later in the second the Comets went on an 8-1 run to jump out to a 17-13. After the Coyotes closed the lead to two, MSU would go on a 7-3 run capped off by kills from Pyle and Samantha Passa to complete the sweep in game one.
Elora Passa led the Comets in kills with 13 kills, she also tallied 26 assists, one blocking assist, and nine digs. Lily Pyle also finished in double figures with 12 kills, two assists, two blocking assists, and one dig. Ashley Pyburn was one kills short of double figures with nine and one blocking assist. Rachel Hill tallied 13 assists and five digs for the Comets. Natalie Hadrava finished with 19 digs in the back row for MSU. Payton Richter was also in double figures with 10 digs.
Game Two: Mayville State 1, Oklahoma Panhandle State 3
The Comets were up 8-5 in the first set before Oklahoma Panhandle State went on a 4-0 run to tie the game at nine. After the game was tied at nine, the Comets went on a 5-1 run to take a 14-10 lead. Later in the first set, MSU was up 19-13 before an OPSU went on a 5-0 run to cut the Comet lead to two. After the Aggies closed the gap to one, MSU finished the set on a 5-0 run to take the first set 25-17.
The Aggies started the second set fast jumping out to a 7-2 lead over the Comets. Later in the set, the Comets were down three when OPSU went on a 4-0 run to jump out to their biggest lead at 12-5. Mayville State was down five points when MSU scored three straight points to cut the lead to two. Oklahoma Panhandle State finished the game on a 6-2 run to win the second set 25-19.
It was a back-and-forth start to the third set at the game was tied at eight when the Aggies went on a 3-0 run to take a short advantage over the Comets. Mayville State would tie the game at 12 before a run of 10-4 gave the Aggies a six-point advantage late in the third set.
To start the fourth set the Comets were trailing 4-1 before a 7-2 run to take a two-point lead on the Aggies. Mayville State was up 12-8 in the fourth set when OPSU went on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to one. Mayville State answered with three points in a row to take a four-point lead. MSU was up 17-14 in the fourth set when the Aggies went on a 6-0 run to take a three-point lead. Pyburn and Passa tallied kills in a 4-0 run late in the set to take a one-point lead at 21-20. Oklahoma Panhandle State went on a 5-0 run to end the fourth set and win the match 3-1.
Elora Passa was the only Comet in double figures with 12 kills, 16 assists, one service ace, two block assists, and six digs. Ashley Pyburn tallied eight kills, three total blocks, and one dig. Natalie Hadrava tallied 15 digs in the back row. Samantha Passa tallied six kills and three digs. Payton Richter recorded 12 digs for the Comets in the loss.
The Comets are back in action tomorrow morning at Hastings College Tournament when they play Hastings College at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM against Haskell Indian Nations.
