Pioneers Take Season Home Opener

Pioneers Take Season Home Opener -Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 8/30/22 

Crowley's Ridge College hosted the visiting Tigers of Champion Christian College located in Hot Springs, Ark., tonight in their third game of the season and first time playing on their home court in the Carter Activity Center. With it being the season home opener the crowd showed up and the Lady Pioneers did not disappoint. CRC stepped on the court still in search of their first season victory after being defeated last week by first Lyon College and Baptist Bible College. 

 The Lady Pioneers came out of the gate with plenty of coal in their engine talking, communicating and playing well together. Set one was a pretty even match until CRC strung a few points together with the help of (Jr.)  Emi Elms and (Jr.) Hannah Halverson that created a gap from the Tigers and forced a timeout from Champion Christian with CRC leading them 10-5. This timeout wouldn't help the Tigers as the duo would continue their run with an additional three points until finally being stopped by Champion Christian but not before CRC could extend the gap to 13-6. Champion Christian would attempt to get things going with a few long volleys but would eventually be met at the net by (So.) Paige Glenn with a big block that seemed to take the air from the Tigers. CRC took set one with a score of 25-14.

In set two, the Pioneers seemed to keep the train rolling as they tacked on a 13-0 run after splitting the first two points of the set taking a big lead early (14-1). (So.) Jadyn Hesse seemed to have the touch tonight as she would continually set up several Lady Pioneers for kills (So.) Paige Glenn, (Jr.) Emi Elms, (Jr.) Brooklynn Passmore, (Jr.) Hannah Halverson, (So.) Alexis Weirich, (So.) Kaylee Cline) ending the night with 23 assists and helping CRC win set two with their biggest spread of the night with a score of 25-10. 

Momentum was on CRC's side but so was defense. (Jr.) Heather Conaway, (Jr.) Hannah Halverson, (So.) Jadyn Hesse and (Fr). Kinley Matlock all had double digits in digs with (Fr.) Kinley Matlock leading the group with 18. As the game ventured into the third set the Lady Tigers found some strength and were not going down without a fight. Even with the Pioneers taking an early lead thanks to kills from (Jr.) Elms, (Jr.) Halverson, (So.) Glenn, and (So.) Weirich), the Tigers would rally a few points together, cutting the score down to a 11-9 Pioneer lead. But, just as quickly as momentum began to swing, CRC went on a 9-3 run halting the shift and allowing (Jr.) Elms to seal the victory with a kill defeating the Tigers 25-15 in set three. 

" I am very pleased with the way we played tonight. We've talked about the importance of communication and energy and how that can help us improve our game even more so it's always good to see those things come together. It's always nice to win but it feels even better to win your season home opener. With that being said,  we can't settle here. We still need to take what we can from this contest to help us improve our game as a team for LeMoyne-Owen next week. " - Head Coach Carissa Winn

Emi Elms led the team in kills (9) followed by Hannah Halverson (7). (So.) Jadyn Hesse had 23 assists. (Fr.) Kinley Matlock had (18) digs, followed by (Jr.) Heather Conaway (16), (So.) Jadyn Hesse (14), and (Jr.) Hannah Halverson (11).