DECATUR, Ga. - Agnes Scott continued to show that they are a team on the rise, as they excited the home crowd with a first-set win before falling to the defending Collegiate Conference of the South champions, Asbury, by a final score of 3-1 (25-22, 8-25, 12-25, 14-25). It is the first set the Scotties have taken from the Eagles in school history.
A year after winning only 15 points in a three-set match against the Eagles (4-3, 1-0 CCS), the Scotties (1-2, 0-1 CCS) came out firing on all cylinders. Behind energetic play and a shared attack scheme, the Scotties raced out to a 7-3 lead early, making a 4-point run off of kills by
Madison Stidum and
Janae Erwing. They would stretch their lead to 12-7 before Asbury started making their own run, closing the gap to 12-11. Stidum once again stepped up, registering a backrow kill and an ace to stretch the lead back to 3, 15-12.
It looked like Asbury was about to roar back, as they scored the next four points to take the lead for the first time, 16-15.  After an Eagle service error evened the set at 16-16,
Sydney Pannell and
Paityn Collins combined for a huge block on the Eagles' Alana Creasey, followed by another Stidum kill, giving the Scotties the advantage, 18-16. Asbury would once again close the gap and even the match at 18 apiece, before an attack error on the Eagles and a kill by
Joi Harris put the Scotties back ahead for good, 20-18. The Scotties stretched their lead out to 24-20, giving them 4 set points. Defending Conference Player of the Year, Isabelle VandeSchraaf, did all she could to get the Eagles back in the match, as she registered a kill on the first set point, and served the next point to give the Eagles a glimmer of comeback hope. In one of the themes of the night, the Scottie blocking corps was up the task on the third match point, as Collins had a solo block on Katelyn Chapman to take the first set and send the Woodrfuff Gymnasium crowd into a lengthy applause for the efforts of the Scotties.
In the next two sets, the Eagles gathered themselves together and ran to early leads in both sets, powered by a strong offense, as they hit .385 and .324, respectively, winning the next two set by scores of 25-8 and 25-12. Scottie head coach
Arieon Trinity made some adjustments in the lineup in the fourth set, as sophomore
Paige Ford saw her first action of the season. After a kill from
Arielle Ingram to start the fourth set for Agnes Scott, Ford stepped to the service line and fired in four straight serves, the first three scoring points for the Scotties, and the home team led, 4-0, after another block by Collins and Stidum. That would be the largest lead of the set, however, as Vandeschraaf and Sophie Glushchak took over offensively, and the Eagles roared back for a 25-14 win in the decider.
The potent offense of the Eagles was the difference-maker on the evening, as they registered 58 kills to just 20 for the Scotties. They also led defensively with 73 digs, compared to 43 for the hosts. One category where the Scotties did shine was in blocks, as they registered 8 total blocks to just 6 for the Eagles. The 8 blocks are the most in a match for the Scotties since the 2024 season. So far this season, they have registered 16 blocks, compared to 24 all of last season.
The Scotties had a balanced attack throughout the night, as setters Collins and
Kayden Carmack spread out the offense to keep the Eagles guessing. Stidum finished with 5 kills and 4 block assists.
Sydney Pannell had 4 kills, 3 assists, and added a team-high 8 digs. Collins finished with 4 kills to go along with 8 assists and a team-high 3.5 blocks (1 solo, 5 block assists).
Janae Erwing also contributed 4 kills, along with 5 digs on defense. Carmack would finish with 7 assists, 3 service aces, and 6 digs of her own. For the Eagles, VandeSchraff finished with a match-high 15 kills, 20 digs, and 3 service aces. Sara Beth Gray and Katelyn Chapman would split 45 assists to direct the offense, and libero Ashlynn Smith led all players with 22 digs.
The Scotties will look to get back on the winning side of the ledger as they take on LaGrange (6-4, 0-1 CCS) as they continue with conference play. The match is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start on Tuesday, September 22 at the Woodruff Gymnasium on the campus of Agnes Scott. The game will be broadcast live at ascscotties.com and live stats are also available.
