Salisbury – The University of Mount Olive Trojans defeated Catawba College 3-2 in non-conference action Wednesday night.

1st Set
At the start of the first set, the Trojans battled with the Indians of Catawba College with three kills from Camryn Huber.

With the Indians up 7-5, a kill from Papavasileiou brought the Trojans within one point. UMO ended a 12-point run by the Indians with a kill from Starr Sergent, which cut the deficit to 17-8.

The Indians tried to pull away from the Trojans late in the first set, however, UMO stopped the Catawba run with kills from Ashlyn Stone and Huber bringing the score to 21-15. The Trojans rallied back thanks to errors committed by the Indians.

UMO eventually cut Catawba’s lead down to 22-20 but after a hard-fought set, the Trojans lost the first set 25-22.

2nd Set
The Trojans’ defense came out strong to start the second set causing three errors for the Indians, and giving UMO a 3-1 lead. After three kills from Amara Eziakonwa and a kill from Ele’sia Willams, the Trojans begin to pull away and took a 10-8 lead.

Even though the remainder of the set was a back-and-forth battle, the Trojans allowed the Indians to pull away in the end and dropped the second set 25-18.

3rd Set
The Trojans built up a 9-4 lead early in the third set. The two opponents were battling back and forth until the Trojans were able to use a five-point run to take an 18-11. The Trojan defense recovered not allowing the Indians to score more than two points in a row for the rest of the set and won the third set 25-16.

4th Set
Mount Olive opened up the fourth set with three unanswered points making the score 3-0.

After two kills from Eziakonwa the Trojans grew their lead to 5-1. The Trojans, however, allowed the Indians to score four unanswered points. A kill from Alyssa Jackson brought the score to 11-6 in favor of the Trojans.

Toward the back half of the set, the Trojans once again let the Indians remain too close, and Catawba tied the score 17-17. The Trojans came out of the Indians’ timeout and got instant results with a kill from Huber and Eziakonwa giving UMO a 23-20 advantage. Mount Olive ultimately took the fourth 25-22.

5th Set
Mount Olive started the fifth set with a 10-3 run. A kill from Huber helped the Trojans get a sideout. UMO managed to pull away 14-7, and the Trojans capped off the fifth set with a kill from Eziakonwa to win the final frame 15-10.  

MOUNT OLIVE LEADERS
Eziakonwa led the Trojans with 16 kills. 
Morgans Prots had 25 digs with Sergent adding 19.
Jenna Myer led the Trojans with 30 assists.

UP NEXT
Mount Olive remains on the road with a non-conference match-up against Shaw University on Sept. 10. at 6:00 p.m.