The Lady Marauders come back to beat UC-Clermont, 3-2

The Central State Lady Marauders fought back from two sets down to top the University of Cincinnati-Clermont, 3-2, on Thursday night.

Playing in front of their home crowd for the first time in 2018, CSU competed in one of the most entertaining volleyball matches in Beacom/Lewis Gymnasium in recent history.

An exciting first set ended with UC-Clermont winning 25-23. UC-Clermont took the second set, 25-20. 

In the third set, the teams traded the lead five times. CSU extended the match by going on a 7-4 run down the stretch capped off by kills from Akaila Howard and Deja Clark.

With the score tied 20-20 in the fourth, CSU's Amaya Howard served an ace to spark a 3-0 run. UC-Clermont answered with a kill from Kelsie Holland and a service ace from Hannah Holscher that narrowly caught the corner inbounds line of the court. Holscher committed a service error on her next attempt and CSU forced the deciding set as Clark set up Desiree Howard for the set point. 

CSU took full control in the final set. With the score tied 5-5, Clark served CSU to seven straight points. Up 12-5, CSU managed to sustain a late 5-2 run from UC-Clermont, eventually earning a 15-10 victory to take the match.

Clark proved to be the best player on the floor on Thursday night. She led CSU in kills (15), aces (4), blocks (5), assists (22) and digs (12). Desiree Howard made a significant impact with 14 kills. Sisters Akaila Howard and Amaya Howard were also crucial in the victory. Akaila finished with 8 kills, 2 aces, 3 blocks, 15 assists, and 8 digs. Amaya recorded 3 aces and 9 digs.

CSU improves to 1-4 overall with the victory. UC-Clermont drops to a record of 4-3.

With eight days off from competition, CSU will prepare to host the SIAC West Division Cluster next week. Featuring all seven teams from the SIAC West, matches will begin at 9 am on Sept. 14.