Blackburn Defeats Harris Stowe With Thrilling Comeback

CARLINVILLE, IL -- Blackburn College Volleyball dropped the first two sets to Harris Stowe State University and faced a 15-12 deficit in the third set before coming back to win the set and eventually take the match with a 3-2 comeback victory. 

A balanced offensive attack powered the Beavers as senior Ella Person and sophomore Rean Ward led the way with nine kills each. Senior Ella Person added eight while senior Zoe Mitchell pitched in with seven. Junior Kenadee Frey tallied 32 assists along with five kills. 

Defensively, freshman Elexus Frey notched a team-best 25 digs. K. Frey chipped in with 16 and Moeglin had 15. Freshman Rylea Black finished with three solo blocks.

HSSU took the first two sets 25-23, 25-20 and had pushed out to a 15-12 lead in the third set. Blackburn responded with five straight points to move ahead 17-15 before the guests rallied back to go ahead 23-22. However, Harris Stowe closed out the set with three straight bad sets to give BC the 25-23 set win. 

In the fourth set, the Beavers took an early lead and pushed ahead to force a fifth by winning 25-15. 

The Hornets led the fifth set 8-5 at the switch but Blackburn answered and tied the score at 9-9. The team's traded points until a 15-15 tie. An attack error by HSSU put BC ahead 16-15. On the next point, Black and Ward jumped up and got the match-winning block. 

The Beavers will look to ride the momentum from the win into Saturday as they open St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at Webster University where they will take on Webster and Mississippi University for Women.