MARYVILLE, Tenn. – Rhodes volleyball fell to Hanover College by a score of 3-2 on Friday in the first game of the 2013 season in the Maryville Invitational.
 
The loss moves the Lynx back to 0-1 on the season, while Hanover moves to a 1-0 record.
 
The match, which proved to be a close battle throughout, ended with the scores 18-25, 27-25, 25-15, 21-25, 12-15.
 
The Lynx came out slow in the first set as well as the beginning of the second set before finding their feet and coming back from a deficit to steal the second set a build momentum.
 
With a full head of steam they rolled though set three dominating on defense and at the net.
 
The Panthers came back strong and battled to take set four, forcing a fifth. Hanover came on strong in the fifth taking an 8-3 lead into the switch. The Panthers eventually took a 13-7 lead before the Lynx fought back. With a handful of clutch kills by senior opposite Lexie Krall and freshman outside hitter Catherine Grimes the Lynx fought back to 12-14 before the Panthers snuck a swing by the Lynx block to take the win.
 
"I'm still very optimistic about the season," said head coach Kait Harris. "I think once we get all of the kinks worked out we are going to give the teams in our conference a match to worry about."
 
Offensively the Lynx were paced by Grimes and Krall who had 16 and 15 kills respectively. Senior setter Michelle Quina dished out 36 assists, while sophomore libero Tasha Heller lead the defense, sprawling for 17 digs.
 
Rhodes will be back in action today at 4 p.m. as they take on Washington and Lee in the second game of the Maryville Invitational.