Lady Rams Open With Pair Of Victories

MOBILE, Ala—The University of Mobile volleyball team got the season started in fine fashion Friday at the Spring Hill College Classic, as the Lady Rams defeated Texas College (25-1, 25-4, 25-13) and Spring Hill (25-18, 25-18, 25-13) by 3-0 scores to start the season 2-0.

The season-opening match against the Lady Steers of Texas College was all about the service game, as Mobile produced a school-record 26 service aces to cruise to victory. Kristen Simpson tied the individual school record with 15 aces to pace Mobile, and set the tempo early, by serving up 12 aces in the 25-1 game one victory.

Texas College started the match with a service ace for a brief 1-0 lead, but a Simpson kill got the ball back on the Lady Ram’s side and they did not look back from there, as the Sophomore from Dothan, AL held serve for the remainder of the game.

Mobile again used the service game to jump ahead in game two, with freshman Amy Carey starting off the game with four-straight aces for the quick lead. In the final game of the match, Texas College held another brief 1-0 lead, but the Lady Rams rebounded quickly and walked away with the 25-13 match-clinching win.

Simpson finished with 15 aces, Carey finished with 11 assists and 5 aces, and Paula Stilkey paced Mobile with 7 kills.

The final match of the day proved to be a tougher task for Mobile, as they played their arch rival Lady Badgers, but the Lady Rams were up to the challenge.

Spring Hill started game one by reeling off four quick points thanks to three Lady Ram attack errors, and the teams jostled back-and-forth from there, trading leads until a late 19-13 Mobile lead proved too much for the host team to overcome. The game was knotted at 12 apiece when Mobile went on a game-clinching 7-1 run as Whitney Knight produced 3 kills.

In game two, the Lady Rams started off quickly, with a 9-2 lead as Knight added 3 more kills and Cassy Johnson produced a pair of kills herself. From there, the closest the Lady Badgers would get, was seven. In the finale, Mobile rebounded from an early 6-5 deficit with a 7-2 run as Knight again produced a pair of kills and an ace. Spring Hill got as close as three, but Mobile put the match away by scoring 11 of the match’s final 13 points.

Knight finished with 16 kills and 7 digs, Cassy Johnson added 8 kills, Paula Stilkey led the way with 10 digs, and Nicole Stokes finished with 18 assists. Rachel Williams led Spring Hill with 7 kills and 6 digs.

Mobile (2-0) will finish play at the Spring Hill College Classic Saturday, August 30th versus Northwood (Fla) at 9:00 am and Alabama State at 1:00 pm.