ALBANY, Ga. — The LeMoyne Owen College women's volleyball team opened Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play over the weekend at the SIAC Eastern Crossover, competing in four matches over two days against Clark Atlanta University, Fort Valley State University, Allen University and Benedict College.
Although the Lady Magicians returned to Memphis still searching for their first victory of the season after going 0-4 on the weekend, the final record does not tell the entire story. LOC produced stretches of some of its best volleyball of the young season, pushed two opponents deep into competitive matches and received several strong individual performances — including a record-setting outing from Madelyn Ross.
Clark Atlanta 3, LeMoyne-Owen 0
The Lady Magicians opened the crossover Friday morning against Clark Atlanta, falling in three competitive sets, 19-25, 21-25 and 20-25.
Interestingly, LOC actually finished with more kills (31-25), more assists (30-21) and more service aces (7-6) than Clark Atlanta. The difference was efficiency. The Lady Magicians committed 31 attacking errors and finished with a .000 hitting percentage, while Clark Atlanta hit .118.
Jordan Williams provided one of LOC's strongest offensive performances of the match, recording a match-high 12 kills while hitting .200. Freshman Rylee Foerster was extremely efficient in the middle, putting down nine kills on just 16 attempts with only two errors for a .438 hitting percentage. Makayla Smith anchored the back row with 16 digs, while Ross distributed 24 assists.
The play-by-play showed just how competitive LOC was early. The Lady Magicians battled Clark Atlanta to a 12-12 tie in the opening set before briefly taking a 13-12 advantage. LOC simply could not sustain those stretches long enough to steal a set.
Fort Valley State 3, LeMoyne-Owen 1
LOC returned to the court later Friday and showed immediate improvement against Fort Valley State.
The Lady Magicians came out swinging, scoring the first three points of the match behind kills from Williams and Kennedy White. LOC eventually captured the opening set, 25-23, to take a 1-0 advantage. Fort Valley State responded by taking the next two sets, 25-21 and 25-23, setting up a dramatic fourth frame.
That fourth set was a battle. Neither side was willing to give much ground, but Fort Valley State eventually escaped with a 27-25 victory to close the match in four sets.
The numbers reflected just how close the match was. Fort Valley State held only a 79-78 advantage in digs, while LOC won the service-ace battle 7-5. The Lady Magicians finished with 42 kills compared with 49 for the Wildcats.
Ross turned in an impressive all-around performance with eight kills, a .217 hitting percentage, 25 assists, 14 digs and an ace. White added eight kills, 12 digs and two aces, while Foerster contributed eight kills and two total blocks. Smith was once again everywhere defensively, finishing with a match-high 22 digs.
Allen 3, LeMoyne-Owen 2
If there was one match over the weekend that showed just how close the Lady Magicians may be to breaking through, it came Saturday morning against Allen University.
LOC pushed Allen to five sets before falling 25-22, 19-25, 25-12, 23-25 and 9-15. The Lady Magicians finished the match with advantages in kills (56-51), assists (46-45) and digs (68-63), while also producing a .204 team hitting percentage. Allen's advantage at the service line and net proved important, as the Yellow Jackets finished with 11 aces and eight blocks.
LOC's third set was arguably its most dominant stretch of volleyball during the entire crossover. The Lady Magicians hit a blistering .393, recording 13 kills against only two errors, while holding Allen to a negative hitting percentage in a convincing 25-12 set victory.
But the biggest individual story of the weekend belonged to Ross.
The junior setter delivered 42 assists against Allen, establishing a new LeMoyne Owen program record for assists in a single match. Ross did more than distribute the volleyball, adding six kills on a .286 hitting percentage, 10 digs and an ace to complete an outstanding all-around performance.
White led the LOC attack with 12 kills, while Williams and Foerster added 11 apiece. Foerster was particularly efficient, hitting .368 on 19 attempts. Smith recorded 18 digs, while Ileana Austin added 17. Abbie Chatman also provided a spark from the service line with three aces.
Benedict 3, LeMoyne-Owen 0
The Lady Magicians closed the weekend against Benedict College, falling 20-25, 20-25 and 11-25.
LOC remained within striking distance through each of the first two sets, but Benedict's efficiency eventually separated the two teams. The Tigers hit .239 for the match compared with -.039 for LOC and held advantages in kills (34-20), blocks (6-2) and digs (41-30).
White finished with six kills and a team-high 13 digs, while Jada Griffin added five kills. Ross completed the weekend with another 17 assists, and Amaya Heard contributed two total blocks.
Strong Individual Performances Highlight Weekend
Despite the four losses, several Lady Magicians put together productive weekends.
Ross was at the center of the offense throughout the crossover, totaling 108 assists across the four matches, highlighted by her program-record 42 against Allen. She also contributed 16 kills and 31 digs as her versatility continued to show.
Smith remained one of the team's most dependable defensive pieces, collecting 63 digs over the four matches, including 22 against Fort Valley State and 18 against Allen.
Offensively, Williams totaled 33 kills over the weekend to lead the Lady Magicians, while White and Foerster each finished with 30 kills. White also contributed 38 digs, giving LOC production on both sides of the net. Foerster continued to flash efficiency as a freshman, including her .438 performance against Clark Atlanta and .368 showing against Allen.
There are no moral victories in the standings, but there were signs in Albany that the Lady Magicians are getting closer. Between taking Fort Valley State down to the wire, forcing Allen into five sets and producing a record-setting performance from Ross, LOC showed that its young group has pieces capable of competing in conference play. The next step is turning those stretches into complete matches.
LeMoyne Owen will now return home to Bruce-Johnson Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 22, when the Lady Magicians host Rust College at 6 p.m. in Memphis.
