The Basics

Score: Evangel 3, Clarke 0 | Box Score

Record: Evangel (16-13, 9-7), Clarke (4-21, 1-16)

Location: Springfield, Mo. (Ashcroft Center)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Valor Volleyball took on the Pride of Clarke on Saturday afternoon, looking to finish with a perfect weekend of play. Despite playing in a evenly matched first set, the Valor blocked their way to victory, sweeping Clarke and claiming their ninth win in conference play.

The first set was a battle as the Valor and Pride played in a fairly competitive set. Clarke pushed out to an early 8-2 lead, giving Evangel work to do to try and climb back. The Valor played a consistent remainder of the set, going on small runs to chip away at the Pride lead. With the match tied at 17 points apiece, Evangel and Clarke began to trade points, all the way to 26 points each. With the game tied 26-26, Evangel's Rylie Morrison recorded a kill off a feed from Leah Jackson and a Clarke attacking error gave the Valor the set, 28-26.

Two 5-0 runs in the second set helped guide Evangel to victory. With the score at 8-7 in favor of Clarke, Ciera Reyes and Sharayah Seymour spurred a run of their own as both recorded kills and blocks to give EU a 12-8 lead. Fast forward to EU leading 20-16 and a Vivianna Sanchez kill accompanied by multiple Clarke attacking errors pushed the Valor across the finish line, taking the set, 25-16.

The final set was kicked off by excellent service from Ashlyn McCanless, who helped guide the Valor to an early 9-1 lead. Although the Valor started off with an early lead, Clarke fought back to narrow the Evangel lead. A 6-0 Pride run gave Evangel just a two point lead, but the effort came up just short for Clarke as Evangel found another offensive groove and finished the game up with a Kenna Wise service ace to claim a 25-21 set victory.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Reyes finished with nine kills to lead the Valor offense.

• Evangel finished with 13 total blocks, seven of which came from Sanchez who continues to have an excellent defensive season at the net.

• Eryn Russell added a team high 16 digs in the 3-0 win.

• Sydney Dunavant led the team with 28 assists for the Valor.

UP NEXT

Evangel will take on Missouri Valley on Tuesday (Oct. 25) evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Ashcroft Center.

For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EvangelValor, Twitter (@EvangelValor), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the Evangel Athletics Gameday App through the App Store or Google Play.  

—#OneValor—