GREENWOOD – The Lander volleyball team fought valiantly against the preseason PBC favorite, but fell 3-0 to Flagler in the Bearcats' home opener on Friday night in Finis Horne Arena. 

Set scores were 25-20, 25-22, 25-23.

Flagler opened the match with an 8-1 run, but Lander managed to claw back within three on two different occasions, pulling to 23-20 on a Madilyn Reed kill. However, the Saints responded with back-to-back kills to claim the first set. 

A 7-1 opening run from the Saints put Lander behind in set two, but the Bearcats once again rallied. Lander rattled off five consecutive points, capped by a pair of service aces from Maddie Moss, to take a 20-18 lead. Flagler responded with a 5-0 run of their own, featuring three service aces, to reclaim the lead and held on for a 25-22 win. 

The Bearcats opened set three with four of the first six points, but Flagler quickly rallied to move ahead 7-5. Lander responded with its best run of the night, scoring eight straight points to make the score 13-7. Trailing 22-17 late in the set, Flagler tallied five consecutive points to tie the score. A Saint error put Lander up 23-22, but Flagler tied the score with a kill and used a pair of Bearcat errors to win the set and end the match.

Seven different Bearcats recorded kills on the night, led by Christina Aguayo's nine. Moss finished with a double-double of 11 assists and a team-high 15 digs, while Madilyn Reed registered 19 assists. Alexa Barral notched three solo blocks and two block assists.

Lander wraps the weekend with a 3:00 p.m. match against Georgia College on Saturday.  

#cLawsUp | @LanderVBALL