SYLVANIA, Ohio – Coastal Georgia volleyball dropped both of its matches on Saturday to close out play at the Gray Wolf Invitational. The Mariners had a 3-1 loss against Taylor in a match that saw an individual four-set match record get tied. Coastal Georgia was swept 3-0 by host Lourdes, who is receiving votes in the NAIA Coaches' Preseason Poll, in the tournament's final match.
"This was a great experience for us to play against quality volleyball teams," said head coach Leah Mihm. "We keep telling our players that this is a process and to trust the process, because the reward is at the end of the season when we're competing for the conference title and earning a spot in the national tournament."
Coastal Georgia plays its final preseason tournament next weekend when the Mariners compete in the Life University Running Eagles Classic. The Mariners play St. Andrews (2 p.m.) and host Life (6 p.m.) on Friday and Faulkner (11 a.m.) and Michigan-Dearborn (3 p.m.) on Saturday.
Taylor 3, Coastal Georgia 1 (25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 25-19)
Yorelis Rios Gonzalez tied the single-match digs record for four sets in the Mariners' 3-1 loss on Saturday morning.
Rios Gonzalez made 33 digs, tying Maggie Bee's mark that was set against Southern Wesleyan on Nov. 8, 2013 in the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament.
A trio of Mariners had double-digit kills – Kyra White (18), Alexis Downey (12) and Madie Bunge (10). Ashely Kot also had 50 assists.
Momentum swung towards Taylor midway through the first set as a 10-2 run lifted the Trojans to a 22-17 lead. Although Coastal Georgia scored four of the set's last seven points, a Taylor block secured set point.
Coastal Georgia was up 18-16 in the second set, when an Amanda Adams kill started a six-point run. The Mariners battled back and went up 24-23 on a Taylor miscue. However, Taylor had back-to-back kills and a service ace to end the set.
The Mariners bounced back with a strong third set, hitting .302 and making 18 kills. Trailing 21-18, Bunge's kill was the first of three-straight Coastal Georgia points that resulted in 21-21 tied set. After two quick Taylor points, the Mariners responded with a set-ending four-point run to stay alive in the match. White had three kills during that run.
However, Coastal Georgia had to contend with a Taylor team that hits .324 in the fourth set. Trailing by two, Coastal Georgia saw Taylor use a four-point run midway through to separate the Trojans from the Mariners.
Lourdes 3, Coastal Georgia 0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-11)
Poor hitting cost the Mariners in their final match. Coastal Georgia only managed to hit .026 for the match, and hit negative in the final two sets.
Meanwhile, Lourdes hit over .360 in the first and third sets and had 11.0 total blocks.
Alexis Downey had a team-high seven kills, while Ashley Kot made 10 assists. Yorelis Rios Gonzalez had 13 digs.
Coastal Georgia saw Lourdes go on multiple runs in the first set. Lourdes also had six of the set's last seven points, including five in a row.
Lourdes had a pair of six-point runs that put the Gray Wolves up 21-11. Coastal Georgia closed the gap with a five-point spurt to make it 22-17. Jenna Bemis was credited with a kill after a Lourdes blocking error to start the Mariners' run.
Coastal Georgia had to contend with another set of Lourdes runs in the third set. Lourdes scored back-to-back points on eight of their nine serving rotations en route to clinching the set and match.
