Volleyball Splits Day One of Pacer Invitational

AIKEN, S.C. - The Coker University volleyball team split the first day of the Pacer Invitational on Friday (Sept. 10), defeating Converse 3-1 before falling to USC Aiken 3-0.

The Cobras began the day taking the opening set over Converse 25-22. The Cobras jumped out to an 11-4 lead to force a Converse timeout, before being the first team to 20 and leading 20-13 in the set. The Valkyries would rally to make the set close, before the Cobras were able to secure the set at 25-22.

Converse would tie the match with a 25-14 victory in set two, before Coker bounced back to take the third set 25-20. The Cobras raced out leads of 9-3 and 14-4 in the third set, before eventually doubling up the Valkyries in the set at 20-10. Converse would rally to make it another close set, before the Cobras secure the set at 25-20.

Coker would take the match with a 25-22 fourth set. The teams played to ties at 7-7, 12-12 and 15-15 before Coker went on a five-point run to make it 20-15. The Valkyries would rally to tie things at 22, before Coker would win three straight points to win the set and the match.

Lauren Loveday paced the Cobras with a career-high 12 kills in the match, while Chelsey Blume posted 11 and Naomi Earl-Reyes added 10. Six other Cobras registered kills in the match. Rami Mullen dished out a match-high 21 assists, followed by Ashley Carson who also had 20 in the match. Olivia Cerick also added three, while Makayla Harris and Taylor Parker each recorded one. Parker led the Cobras with 22 digs, while Cerick had 13 and eight others posted digs in the match. Carson Fuller posted the lone block in the match for Coker, while Blume registered two block assists and four others added one each.

The Cobras fell to USC Aiken in straight sets of 25-18, 25-15 and 25-20.

Blume finished with a team-high eight kills, while five others registered kills in the match. Mullen dished out a team-high 12 assists, while five others contributed assists in the match. Harris posted a team-high 17 digs in the match, while seven others posted digs in the match. Parker registered the team's lone solo block, while Fuller and Earl-Reyes each had two block assists and Blume and Loveday each had one.

Coker returns to action tomorrow (Sept. 11) on day two of the Pacer Invitational to face Lander at 12:30 p.m. and Augusta at 5:30 p.m. Live stats for both matches will be available at www.cokercobras.com.