By Leslie Pritchett
Staff Writer

The Cave Arena was filled with people as the Lady Lions volleyball team took on the Covenant College Scots on Tues., Oct. 20. The Lions lost in a five set match, falling short three points to the Scots, making the overall score 3-2.

“I’m really proud of how we played against Covenant. They are first in conference. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we gave them a run for their money,” said fourth-year right-side hitter Taylor Cramsey.

Starting off, the Lions lost the first set, 25-19.

Piedmont returned strong for the second set, matching the Scots with a 25-19 win. The fans erupted after this set because the crowd believed the Lions fought to come back. After the second set, the Lions and Scots were tied 1-1 with three more sets to go.

Second-year right-side hitter Katelyn Durmire had 11 blocks, matching the NCAA Era individual match record.

“Last year, we were blocking ten attempts per match while this year we are down to one per match. With [Durmire]’s help we were back up to ten blocks in the match,” said Head Coach Sid Feldman.

Coming back for the third set, the Lions and Scots fought for the win. Tied 24-24, the Lions had to earn extra points to win. They took the set 26-24, putting them ahead 2-1.

Fourth-year outside hitter Mallory Leary lead the team with 16 kills, and first-year libero Haley Hixon lead the team in digs, tying her career best of 34.

The Scots took the fourth set from the Lions, 25-19. This took a little steam from the team as they fell hard in this set.

In a winner-takes-all fifth set, Piedmont tried to make a come back towards the end, but they fell short with a score of 15-12, ending the match.

 “We have to be able to change the direction of our spikes,” said Feldman.

For seniors Mallory Leary and Taylor Cramsey, this game was the last game in the Cave Arena.

“We are still placed third in the south for conference and qualify for the conference tournament, which was our goal since day one,” said Cramsey.