The Dalton State Women's Volleyball team lost a heartbreaker on Friday night at William Carey University. The final score will read 3-2 in favor of the host Crusaders, but that isn't the whole story.
The first game was back and forth early. Down 11-10, William Carey held serve with a chance to tie. The serve would result in a serve error that kick started a 5-0 run for the Lady Roadrunners, and allowed them to take command of the game. Dalton State would go on for a 25-21 win.
Dalton State would see William Carey jump out early and hold a lead throughout the second game.
The Lady Roadrunners would consistently keep it within three, but William Carey would go on a quick 3-0 run to extend their lead to six. The Crusaders would not look back and go on to even the match at one game each.
The third game looked much like the first, with the Roadrunners and Crusaders trading points. William Carey would go on a 9-3 run while leading 16-15 to end the game and put them up 2-1 in the match.
The fourth game would belong to the Roadrunners from the start. They would take command early and cruise to a 25-19 win. The fifth and final game would see Dalton State capitalize early on the momentum from their game four win. The Roadrunners would jump out to an early 3-1 lead and extend it at 5-2. The Crusaders would come back as they would score 5 straight to go up 8-5. They Roadrunners would match them, winning four of the next five points to tie the game at 9. William Carey would take command from there as they outscored the Roadrunners 6-2 to win the match.
The Roadrunners were led on the evening by Anna Metzler. The Junior from Rio de Janeiro would record 17 kills, 14 digs, and 3 blocks. Grace Hardin would add to the Dalton State effort with 12 kills, and 6 blocks. Olivia Keegan pitched in with 5 kills and 4 digs. Cassandra Cox, 7 kills, and Ryan Burke, 6 kills, also scored for the Roadrunners.
Senior Karly Newman led the defense for the Roadrunners with 23 digs. Junior Julia Borges add 13 digs of her own to the stat line. Setters Clarissa Weber and Brooke Thomas continued their outstanding play recording 26 and 19 assist respectively.
The Roadrunners continue their western swing in the conference tonight when they visit Loyola-New Orleans. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST, 12 p.m. CST.