MEMPHIS - The Rhodes College volleyball team returned home on Sunday afternoon as they welcomed in the Birmingham-Southern Panthers in Southern Athletic Association play. The Lynx would fall behind 2-0, but battle back and force a fifth set where they fell just short to the talented Panthers.

Freshman August Bishop had a career day for the Lynx, finishing with 21 kills in the contest including a .391 hitting percentage. Freshman Ellen Platt was also great for Rhodes, adding 11 kills and hitting .417.

As a team, the Lynx were excellent offensively, finishing with 59 total kills while only committing 20 errors as Rhodes hit .227 in the match. The Panthers were also good on the other side, hitting .198 with 53 kills.

Birmingham-Southern came out hot, jumping to a 17-6 lead en rout to a 25-18 win in the first set. The Lynx were competitive in the second set, but the Panthers used a seven point rally to take a close 13-12 match out to 20-12. They would win the second set, 25-18.

After committing 13 total errors in the first two sets, the Lynx would only commit seven in the final three sets.

Rhodes was outstanding in the third set, putting together one of their top offensive performances for the season, hitting .406 as a team with 16 kills and only three errors. Bishop was a huge part of this set, earning six kills in the process.

It was more of the same in the fourth set as Rhodes jumped out to a 13-7 lead and held off Birmingham-Southern's rally to win the set 25-20. The Lynx hit .351 as a team in the set including 15 kills to only three errors. 

The Panthers would take the early lead in the final set and would hold off Rhodes to win the set, 15-12, and win the match.

Freshman Camila Zimmerman and Caroline Perlis finished with seven kills each while freshman Ana McMullen had 29 assists and freshman Arati Joshi had 21 assists.

Defensively, senior Maraia Tremarelli had 20 digs, Zimmerman added 19, and Josh had 11. Perlis would finish with three blocks while Zimmerman and freshmen Lulu Schulz and Morgan Hill all had two.

Rhodes falls to 5-10 on the year and 0-5 in SAA play as they have now dropped six straight. However, the Lynx continue to show promise as they continue to push forward.

They will hit the road next weekend as they take on Oglethorpe University in Atlanta followed by a non-confernece tilt with Rust College. First serve is set for 12 p.m. with the Rust match scheduled immediately afterwards.