Lady Cougars Rally For Five-Set Victory over Bethel


	Lady Cougar Volleyball Recaps Lady Cougars Rally For Five-Set Victory over Bethel written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (9-4-2012) - The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women's volleyball team got the Crossroads League portion of its schedule off to a good start on Tuesday evening in front of over 700 fans in the friendly confines of the Physical Education Center as the Lady Cougars rallied for a 23-25, 27-25, 25-22, 17-25, 15-11 victory over Bethel (Ind.) College in MVNU's home opener. The match, which last just over two hours, went back and forth with great rallies and lots of momentum swings as both teams battled hard and the large crowd roared its approval. The Lady Cougars (6-3, 1-0 Crossroads League) overcame a big deficit at the end of the first set and nearly pulled out a victory before Bethel was able to prevail. MVNU rallied again to this time take the second set and then claimed the third set as well. The visiting Lady Pilots (5-5, 0-1 Crossroads League) bounced back to win the fourth set and led early in the fifth set before the Lady Cougars pulled away from a 10-10 tie to take the match. Junior outside hitter Kendra Votaw paced MVNU with a career-high 28 kills as she was just four shy of the school record of 32 set by Amanda Triplett versus Cedarville University in 2000. Votaw also added 16 digs. Senior outside hitter Haley Nofziger contributed 14 kills and three blocks, and senior middle hitter Gina Porto added 10 kills and six blocks. Senior setter Lauren Percival also handed out 50 assists to go with 17 digs and seven kills, while senior libero Kaylee Hewitt posted 27 digs. In addition, junior defensive specialist Morgan Pridemore tallied 11 digs and served up two aces. "In the first set, we were getting killed and then we just started to believe and battled to the end before falling," said MVNU coach Paul Swanson. "We did the same thing in the second set and were able to pull it out. Then, we played a great third set and they followed with an awesome fourth set. It's not like they are not a good team. Then we got into the fifth set." "When the match is over sometimes, you wonder 'how did we win?'," Swanson continued. "Well, a lot of volleyball is perseverance. When you have two good teams playing, it's a matter of belief and perseverance. You can't get discouraged over things you didn't do right or mistakes you made. We harp on that all the time. This match was so important for us to build confidence in each other and individually in people. Obviously, we got a huge game out of Kendra, but you have people like Kelly Mast who make a contribution that really matters. You have Morgan playing in the back row and doing things that really matter." "Especially after having lost two matches in five in Chicago a week ago, this was important for us in terms of belief," Swanson added. "Winning our conference opener was gigantic, too. After last year (5-13), you have this cloud over your head like you might not win any matches in conference. We'll have lots of up and down matches like this and hopefully we can build on this." "The crowd tonight was awesome," Swanson concluded. "They were into it and really helped to spur us on. It was great to have that kind of support." The Lady Cougars will return to action on Friday night when MVNU will host Spring Arbor (Mich.) University in another Crossroads League match that will begin at 7 p.m.

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