The Lady Cougars (8-0) fell behind 4-1 early on in the first game and trailed 9-5 before rallying for an 11-9 lead as freshman middle hitter Jackie Albrecht (left) served for five straight points and junior outside hitter Audrey Hickinbotham and sophomore setter Kaylin Austen each smashed a kill.

The score remained close and was tied at 21-21 before Austen served for four straights points with one ace and senior middle hitter Shena Beheler posted a block to give MVNU a 25-21 advantage. From that point on, the teams traded points as the Lady Cougars prevailed 30-27.

In the second game, the score was tied at 10-10 early on and the visiting Lady Pioneers held a slim 18-16 advantage midway through the game. Then, Malone (6-7) rattled off 12 of the final 20 points to take the game 30-20 and even the match at a game apiece.

MVNU jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead to start the third game as Albrecht again excelled at the service line and added another ace. After the Lady Pioneers finally got on the scoreboard, the Lady Cougars still held an 11-5 advantage before Malone trimmed it to 17-15. However, a pair of kills by Hickinbotham, another ace by Albrecht, and a block by Hickinbotham and Beheler gave MVNU a 24-17 cushion.

Following a sideout by the Lady Pioneers, Hickinbotham, Beheler, and sophomore outside hitter Courtney Springer each smashed a kill to extend the Lady Cougars’ lead to 28-28. Back-to-back sideouts made it 29-19, and Beheler closed out the game with a block for a 30-19 win.

In the fourth game, MVNU jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead behind the hitting of Beheler and Springer and good team blocking. After Malone closed to within 11-7, an ace by Springer and a kill by Austen helped to fuel the Lady Cougars to a 14-7 advantage.

MVNU scored four of the next five points to extend its lead to 18-8, and the Lady Cougars’ cushion grew to as much as 25-14 following an ace by senior libero Tiffany Milburn (right). The Lady Pioneers began chipping away at the lead and pulled within 27-23, but a sideout by MVNU and an ace by Hickinbotham made it 29-24. Then, Beheler put down a well-placed shot for a kill to give the Lady Cougars a 30-24 win and the match.

“I don’t want to take anything away from the fact that we won the match, but I was not pleased with our inconsistency tonight,” said MVNU head coach Paul Swanson. “We started to pick things up a little bit in the third and fourth games, but we need to be a lot more consistent in order to continue to improve and get to where we want to be as a team.”

Beheler and Hickinbotham each pounded 10 kills apiece with Beheler adding eight blocks and nine digs. Albrecht smashed nine kills to go with 10 digs and two aces, while Austen handed out 37 assists and tallied nine digs, three blocks, three aces, and three kills. Milburn posted 28 digs and two aces, and Springer finished with seven hills, two aces, and 16 digs.

The Lady Cougars will have the rest of the week off before returning to action next Tuesday at home when MVNU will open American Mideast Conference South Division play with a 7:00 p.m. match against Urbana University in the Physical Education Center.