BELMONT, NC – The Piedmont International University volleyball team (15-7) competed in a non-conference tri-match against two NCAA Division II Conference Carolina volleyball programs, Belmont Abbey College (17-9) and Converse College (6-22) on Saturday evening.

In the first match, Piedmont faced Converse College and fought in a back and forth match, losing in a 5-set thriller (23-25, 20-25, 26-24, 27-25, 13-15). McKenzie Mastin led the team with, a career-high, 20 kills, becoming the first Lady Bruin to eclipse the 20-kill mark this season. Olivia Bullard recorded 15 kills, while Virgillia Jones and Kelsey McKinley tallied 8 and 7 kills, respectively. Jones added 4 blocks in the contest. Bullard added 12 digs while Cameron Dubuc led the team with 24 digs. Hannah Carter posted another double-double, dishing out 41 assists alongside her 19 digs. Carter added 5 service aces in the match.

In the first set, both teams were neck and neck and were tied 4-4 in the early round. Converse kept the pressure and had the lead at 17-16 and used a 4-point run to be up 21-17. After some side-out scoring, Converse pulled out the victory at 25-23.

During the second set, both teams traded 4-point runs to keep the score close. Converse pulled away after 8 unanswered points, forcing PIU to take a timeout at 5-12.  PIU cut the deficit to 2 points at 15-17. Unfortunately, Converse pulled away and closed out the set 25-20.

In the third set, Piedmont never trailed during the set until Converse tied the game at 23-23 and 24-24.  Piedmont scored the final two points to win the set, 26-24, cutting the deficit to 1-2 set lead.

The fourth set continued the trend of scoring runs from both teams, with PIU leading as many as 3 points and a 2-point lead for Converse. The game was tied several times in the later stages before PIU closing out the set 27-25.

The fifth set was indeed as indicated on how the first four sets were played as both teams traded back-to-back blows. Piedmont led 8-6 as teams change sides before Converse tied the game at 9-9.  The game was tied again at 11-11, and 13-13, before Converse pulled the final two points to win the set, 15-13, and the match, 3-2.


In the second and final match of the day, Piedmont faced the home team, Belmont Abbey College, losing in consecutive sets (11-25, 12-25, 13-25). Arguably facing the best team they have played this season, Piedmont was outplayed in most of the box score categories. Through true grit and perseverance, the Lady Bruins out-dug their opposition, holding a 48-39 advantage in the match.

The Lady Bruins defense was a whole team effort as all players, recorded at least one dig. Cameron Dubuc led the defensive hold for the Lady Bruins with 10 digs in the match. Hannah Carter added 8 digs and tallied 10 assists in the match.
Kelsey McKinley led the team with 6 kills in the match, while Virgillia Jones added 5 kills. Piedmont's hitting efficiency was held in the negative for the first time this season against the more physical Belmont Abbey's defensive front.

The Lady Bruins are headed home to the Pope Center to face Johnson and Wales University on Tuesday, October 23. The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM.