SAVANNAH, Ga-- The University of Mobile volleyball team dropped a pair of matches against nationally ranked teams on day one of the SCAD Invitational Friday.
In the opener, Mobile fell to Bellevue 0-3 (19-25, 17-25, 18-25). In the final match of the day, the Lady Rams fell to 5th-ranked UT-Brownsville 0-3 (16-25, 22-25, 20-25).
Mobile (12-9) will face host SCAD Saturday at 10 am and 11th-ranked Embry-Riddle at 2 pm.
Against Bellevue, Alyson Kovacs led with 8 kills and a .500 attack percentage, while Kelly Sherling added 7 kills. Disah Kolassiba added 5 kills and 4 blocks, while Katy McCollister led with 10 digs.
Bellevue out hit Mobile .247 to .147 and the Lady Rams had 9 service errors versus only 3 aces. Bellevue also finished with a 44-23 edge in digs.
The opening set was close throughout, with Mobile grabbing a 15-14 lead on a Sherling kill. With the score tied 19-19 on back-to-back Katie Dowd kills, Bellevue took six straight points to finish off the set.
In the second set, Mobile took an early 6-3 lead, but from there, Bellevue went on a 17-5 run to take control. Bellevue jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the final set and never trailed.
In the finale, the UT-Brownsville defense held Mobile to a -.012 attack percentage. Sherling led with 7 kills and 10 digs, while Kovacs added 4. Melody Tenney, Charlotte Stutts and McCollister finished with 3 service aces apiece.
Mobile held a 5-4 lead in the opening set versus UTB, but the Lady Scorpions put down three straight kills and never gave up the lead, using a 3-0 and 4-0 run down the stretch to finish it off.
The second set saw Mobile go on a 9-2 run and grab a 15-11 lead, with three aces in the run. Mobile held the lead until UTB's Danica Markovic used three straight aces to break a 20-20 lead.
UTB grabbed an 8-1 lead in the final set, but Mobile used a pair of 3-0 runs with Stutts and Haley Wiggins serving to pull within 12-11. The Lady Rams stayed close, but could not grab a lead. They tied it 14-14, but UTB went on a 3-0 run and then held the lead the rest of the way.