OWENSBORO, KY - The Kentucky Wesleyan Volleyball team battle back to tie things up after being down 2-1, but a hot start in the final set from Cedarville allowed the visitors to come away with a 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 18-25, 25-22, 11-15) victory. 

The Yellow Jackets improve to 9-7 (4-4 G-MAC) while Wesleyan falls to 2-15 (1-8 G-MAC).

The Panthers came out and dominated the opening set, taking a big 17-7 lead after two straight kills from Nicole Hughes. Up 22-16 late, Claire Lange hit three straight service aces to close out the set.

The second set was a set of runs. Wesleyan, up 10-9, went on a 6-1 run to take a 16-10 lead. After a timeout from the Yellow Jackets halted Wesleyan's momentum, Cedarville went on their own 7-0 run, taking a 17-16 lead. The teams proceeded to go back-and-forth on points, with Hallie McGuire and Nicole Hughes each grabbing some big kills in that time span. CU managed to just hold off the Panthers in the end and take the set 25-23. 

The third set started with neither team scoring two points in a row until Cedarville went on a 4-0 run to take a 9-5 lead. The Yellow Jackets didn't look back, eventually taking the set 25-18. 

With their backs against the wall, the Panthers responded. Hughes, McGuire, and Hadley Wolfe each notched big kills in the middle of the set to put the Panthers up 17-12. With the Panthers up 23-18, Cedarville battled back to cut it to 23-22, before two straight kills from Hallie McGuire off the perfect passes from Julia Kupper gave the Panthers the decisive set win. 

Cedarville took it to the Panthers early in the fifth set, quickly going up 6-1. Wesleyan cut it right back to 6-4, but the damage had been done, as the Yellow Jackets didn't give up their lead en-route to the 15-11 win.

The combination of Julia Kupper and Nicole Hughes was dominant all night for the Panthers. Kupper set a new career high and moved into a tie for fourth all time with 55 assists in the match, while Hughes notched 23 kills, a career high of her own and good for a tie for third all time in KWC history (since 2003). Hallie McGuire played great as well, tallying 17 kills on a .441 hitting percentage. Ava Rebarchik led with six total blocks, while Embry Burgess (17), Hughes (12), and Kupper (10) each notched double-digit digs. 

The Panthers will be right back at it tomorrow when they host the Thomas More Saints in Jones Gym. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. 

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