JACKSON – The Millsaps College volleyball team hosted cross-street rival Belhaven College in a non-conference match Tuesday night in The Hangar Dome and came away with a 3-1 win for its third straight victory to improve to 5-4 overall.
Continuing right where they left off in the Millsaps Invitational, the Majors found themselves in a tightly contested battle at home with the Blazers. Millsaps again came out on top over an injury-plagued Blazer roster in four sets.
Behind kills from freshman \#Raven Scott\# and sophomore \#Maggie Tumminello\#, the Majors gained an early 6-5 lead in the opening set. The teams traded points behind strong defense to tie the match 9-9.
Millsaps saw its lead increase to 18-14 with freshman \#Sarah Zito\# and sophomore \#Kasey Laird\# providing an outstanding presence in the middle. Senior \#Dixie Krauss\# then came in and closed out the first set, 25-15, with brilliant serving giving the Majors the early 1-0 set advantage.
In the second set, the Majors came out swinging and staked a 12-5 lead. Millsaps continued its superb play and increased its lead to 19-12 and looked to finish off the set quickly. Junior \#Hailey Miranda\# used a serving run to do just that, finishing the set 25-13 for the 2-0 Major lead.
The Blazers (7-5) were not willing to give up without a fight, and in the third set they kept the Majors' defense off-balance with quality offense. Belhaven was able to maintain a lead throughout the set and eventually claimed a 25-22 win to keep the match alive.
Millsaps quickly found its rhythm again in the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead with Tumminello leading the charge. The Majors continued to apply pressure and stretched their lead to 15-7 forcing Belhaven to call timeout.
Junior \#Kate Hall\# ended a Belhaven rally out of the timeout and the Majors never looked back, cruising to a 25-13 fourth set victory to finish the match 3-1 in favor of Millsaps.
The Majors will travel to San Antonio, Texas, this weekend for its first taste of conference play as they will play four matches Friday and Saturday in the first SCAC cross-divisional hosted by Trinity University.
