Box Score

Rome, GA -- The Piedmont College volleyball team started out strong but fizzled late to watch Berry College take a 3-0 decision in their home gym earlier this evening care of an outstanding offensive performance by the home team.  Two Vikings hit .600 at the net while three Lady Lions were held to a negative hitting percentage as Berry won a tight decision in the opening set before rolling in the next two to hand Piedmont its seventh loss in its last eight contests.

In the opening set, the two squads appeared to be setting the stage for an epic battle on the evening with each team having a chance to pick up the first set victory late going to tiebreak points to decide a winner.  Despite having the opportunity to win it at 28-27 with a one point advantage and the ball in hand, Piedmont saw its chance slip away to fall 31-29 in dramatic fashion to the home team with Berry taking a one set advantage early.

Despite the promise of a tight battle down the stretch, sets two and three did not go as planned for PC with the Lady Lions dropping back-to-back 25-13 decisions as Berry swept the contest 3-0 in the Cage Center.  The three set loss is the second straight for Piedmont who now moves to 12-5 on the year in matches decided in three sets.

Piedmont was led offensively by sophomore Ashley Fannon who came off the bench to tally seven kills on 24 attempts for a .167 hitting mark while a trio of Lady Lions collected five kills a piece in freshmen Jennifer Opper, Kaitlin Norman, and senior Rachel Powell.  Junior Paige Eslinger was the leader defensively with her 20 digs on the night as newcomer Katie Byrd added seven of her own to the effort.

In the assists department,sophomore Katheryn Knarr was tops with her 12 helpers while Ashton Nash had nine to surpass 400 on the season and added eight digs as well.  The real difference between the two squads came at the net as Berry tallied 52 kills to just 28 for Piedmont on the night, PC's third lowest such total in the 2011 season.

With the loss, Piedmont falls to 18-10 on the year and sees its season series with the Vikings pull even at 1-1.  The Lady Lions return to the court when they resume their conference schedule with a pair of games at Agnes Scott College on Saturday, October 22nd.  Piedmont kicks off the weekend tri-match with a 12:00 pm game against Agnes Scott College while a 2:00 pm match against Covenant College wraps up the Lady Lions' day.