Pride fall in straight sets against Culver-Stockton

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Getting on their home floor for the first time in their Heart of America Athletic Conference schedule, the Clarke University women's volleyball team was unable to pick up a win in a 3-0 loss to Culver-Stockton College on Tuesday night.

Mostly unable to play with a significant lead, the Pride fell by set scores of 25-22, 25-18, and 25-20 as the closest late-set margin throughout the entire match came in the first set when they trailed 22-21 after tying the set at 20-20 three points prior.

A block and an ace for the Wildcats would take it to 24-21 as a Maya Watters kill kept CU's hopes alive shortly before Addie Force sealed the deal in the first set for CSC despite Clarke holding the advantage in hitting percentage at .273 to Culver-Stockton's .250.

A mid-set run to go from 9-8 to 14-8 Wildcats followed by a set-ending run to go from 21-18 to 25-18 told most of the story in the second set then the Pride's major chance for momentum in the third set at a 9-3 lead was erased in short order thanks to a 9-0 run from Culver-Stockton to make it 12-9 behind four kills from Victoria Pollard, three CU attacking errors, and a pair of aces for Zoe Irvin.

Clarke was able to get the set to 17-15, 20-18, and 21-19 but three-straight points from the Wildcats gave them double match-point as they were able to finish the job on an Abby Godwin kill.

Godwin led Culver-Stockton with 11 kills and a .259 hitting percentage as Irvin and Pollard both finished with eight kills of their own as the middle blocker combo of Ashleigh Brawley and Faith Hopgood combined for nine kills on 22 swings and six total blocks.

Watters led all players in the match with 12 kills and a .360 hitting percentage with only three errros on 25 swings while adding three block assists of her own to lead the match in points with 13.5.

After this short stay on their home floor, Pride women's volleyball will head back on the road this weekend for a pair of matches starting with a Friday evening matchup against Graceland University for a 7:00 p.m. CT scheduled first serve in Lamoni, Iowa.