AIKEN, S.C. – The Lander volleyball team went 1-1 in the first day of the Pacer Invitational after losing a five-set match against Francis Marion and winning against Belmont Abbey.
"I was proud of our team for rebounding after a tough loss to Francis Marion. We had some ball control issues early in the day, but we got that figured out.," said head coach Jeff Reynolds.
The Bearcats hit .085 as a team against the Patriots after starting the match hitting .257.
Christina Aguayo led the Bearcats with 17 kills while Maya Walker was close behind with 14. Madilyn Reed was credited with 42 assists while Daria De Carvalho Peixe led the squad with four blocks.
The two sides would trade sets to start the third tied 1-1.
Down 13-12, the Bearcats used an 8-1 run to open up the set and win 25-17.
The Patriots would not go without a fight, as they started the third set on 9-1 run before a kill from Sydney Bellamy stopped the bleeding for the time being. The Patriots would continue their dominance in the set, leading by as many as 11 with the score 17-6. Lander was able to go on a late rally down 24-13, scoring the next six points before FMU scored the final point to force a fifth set.
Both squads had small runs to begin the fifth set with the score tied at 10 apiece. Lander would be unable to stop FMU, with three of the next five points being contributed to errors by the Bearcats.
The Bearcats would bounce back later in the day with a 3-1 victory over Belmont Abbey. After losing the first set 26-24, Lander dismantled the Crusaders in the next three sets to take its first win of the Pacer Invitational.
Aguayo set a new career-high in kills with 23 while the Bearcats as a team had season highs in hitting percentage (.354) and service aces (16) against BAC.
Aguayo and De Carvalho Peixe were tied with five aces against the Crusaders. Reed had another 40+ assist match, contributing 45 assists.
Belmont Abbey was able to capitalize on its 10-3 start in the first set. The Bearcats would keep fighting, getting within four points with the match set at 22-18 before a five-point swing to briefly take a 23-22 advantage. The two sides traded points with Lander leading 24-23, but the Crusaders would use a kill along with a service error and attack error to clinch the first set 26-24.
The second set would be the closest among the next three, with the Bearcats winning 25-18. Lander hit. 250 while BAC hit only .095.
Winning the third and fourth set 25-11 and 25-13, the Bearcats hit .516 and .400 in the final two frames.
Lander wraps up the Pacer Invitational with Coker and Converse tomorrow at 12:30 and 3 pm.

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