MARYVILLE – Maryville gained a Saturday split against a pair of tough Midwestern foes to close out the 2024 Maryville College Invitational.
The Scots broke into the win column first with a 3-1 victory over Concordia Chicago.
Landry Frisch continued her fine start to the season with 16 kills and a .387 hitting percentage.
Reese Bailey also was on target, hitting at a .550 clip and contributing 14 kills. Bailey last year led the Scots in hitting percentage and finished third in the Collegiate Conference of the South.
In Maryville's second match of the day, the Scots took the first set from Wisconsin Lutheran but then dropped the next three in another 3-1 result. All four Maryville score lines from the weekend finished 3-1. The Scots also scored at least 20 points in 12 of their 16 sets.
Against Concordia Chicago, the Scots lost the first set 25-18 after the Cougars ended on a 9-2 run. In the second set, Maryville scored the first three points and never trailed or was even tied. They broke in front 11-2 and 17-6 before coasting to the finish at 25-15.
Eldred Closes It Out
The third set was more contested, with four ties. The last one came at 11-11, but Maryville led just 18-17 before pulling away at the end.
Izzy Freeman and
Reese Bailey had kills to get that late run started, and the set ended 25-21 on a Concordia service error. In Set 4, there were six ties and three lead changes as the Scots needed another late charge to secure the 26-24 decision. Freeman delivered a key for the 25th point and
Katelyn Eldred served an ace for the clincher.
Bailey in addition to her hitting prowess led the team with five service aces. She is the early MC leader in that category with 11.
The second match was a complete reversal of the first, with Maryville taking Set 1 by a 25-19 count before losing three straight. The scores were 25-20, 25-17 and 25-21 against a Wisconsin Lutheran squad that went 2-1 for the weekend. Maryville head coach
Brienna Laskowski came to the Scots after coaching one season with the Warriors.
Frisch had nine more kills, giving her a team-high 25 for the day. Eldred posted 13 digs for the second game in a row and
Dakota Vaiese had 17 assists after contributing 24 in Saturday's opening match.
Maryville is back in action twice next weekend at the Sewanee Invitational. The Scots play Spalding on Friday at 5 p.m. Central time and then take on St. Joseph's of Maine on Saturday at noon Central.
