Rome, Ga. - Rhodes volleyball showed up to play Friday night in what ended up being their final game of the season. The Lynx, seeded fifth in the 2018 Southern Athletic Association volleyball tournament, took fourth-seeded Sewanee to five sets before succumbing to the Tigers to finish the season 14-13.
Rhodes went to the tournament, not only down with injuries, but also down senior
Morgan Hill who couldn't make the trip due to prior academic commitments. Rhodes entered the tournament against No. 7-regionally ranked Sewanee with a 25-16 loss before the Lynx rebounded and took down the Tigers 25-17. In the third set, Sewanee led 19-14 before the Lynx battled back to go up 2-1. Rhodes trailed 23-19 before pulling within one point to force a Tiger timeout. A kill from Sewanee put the Tigers in prime position to take the set, but Rhodes continued to fight back, scoring three straight points to lead 25-24. With Sewanee leading 27-26, Rhodes tallied three unanswered points including a set-winning service ace from libero
Mary Frances Daniel to close out the third set 29-27.
Sewanee took the fourth set 25-21 and led 9-3 in the tie-breaker set before head coach
Kait Harris called for a timeout to re-group the Lynx. Rhodes scored three points in a row, and were on a big enough roll to force a Sewanee timeout. The Tigers took an 11-7 lead, but once again the Lynx weren't finished and scored four unanswered points to tie the game 11-11. Sewanee responded with three points to lead 14-11 after a block, but again the Lynx made a remarkable comeback, which included a solo block from
Emily Korba on the right side who then tied the game 14-14 on a hard cross-court kill. Sewanee called for their final timeout, but an attack error gave Rhodes the edge. The teams exchanged points and with the Tigers leading 17-16, Sewanee's setter tried to dump the ball to the back corner, but the Lynx defense held strong and set up senior
Camila Zimmerman with a hard kill to tie the game 17-17. Tied at 18-all, a pancake dig from Korba kept Rhodes ahead after
Heather Antrim recorded the final Lynx point on a tip. Sewanee closed the game with three points to win 21-19. That score is the most total points (40) in SAA Tournament history.
In the game, Rhodes led Sewanee in kills (63), hitting percentage (.197) and digs (101). Korba recorded her first career triple-double in the contest, recording 30 assists, 17 digs and 14 kills.
Kelsey Glasper and
Camila Zimmerman recorded double-doubles while Daniel led the game with 31 digs. Zimmerman led Rhodes with a .311 hitting percentage and 19 kills in her final collegiate game. She also tallied 20 digs. Glasper finished with 16 kills and 21 digs.
Prior to today's match, the conference held a tournament banquet for the teams, where
Mary Frances Daniel and
Morgan Hill were awarded honorable mention All-Conference honors. Daniel finished the regular season with 525 digs, the second-highest digs recorded among SAA players. The sophomore libero completes the season with a career-high 556 digs. A senior, Hill has now earned all-conference accolades the last two seasons. This year she recorded 132 kills, hit .230, and recorded seven solo blocks and 64 block assists.
The Lynx going 14-13 this season is the most wins for the program since 2011 and the first winning season for Rhodes since 2007 (20-16).
