NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 1, Guilford 3
Score: Piedmont 0, William Peace 3
Record: Piedmont 0-2

DANVILLE, Va. – The Piedmont University volleyball team opened the 2021 fall season on the road in tournament action Friday dropping a pair of matches against Guilford and William Peace. Both matches were non-conference action with Guilford taking the match 3-1 while Piedmont fell 3-0 to the Pacers. 

Match 1: Piedmont 1, Guilford 3

The Lady Lions fell behind early in the first set against Guilford 5-1 forcing a Lady Lion timeout to regroup. Piedmont went on a run to tie the first set at seven, but the Quakers used an 8-0 run to take a 17-8 lead. Piedmont fought till the end but Guilford took the first set 25-16. 

Piedmont would take the second set 25-22 to knot it up, capitalizing on late errors to claim the win. Guilford jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third set and maintained control with a 25-13 win, but the fourth set, Piedmont gave the Quakers all they could handle. 

The Lady Lions pushed Guilford to the edge forcing extra points dropping the fourth set 26-24. Piedmont led 24-23 but was unable to close it out and force a fifth set. ALAINA MCDONALD led Piedmont with nine kills while BROOKLYN GUNN tallied 13 assists. 

Match 2: Piedmont 0, William Peace 3

Piedmont dropped the second match in straight sets to the Pacers with final scores of 25-12, 25-14 and 25-19. Each time saw the Lady Lions inch closer, but they were unable to keep pace with the Pacers. 

The opening set was tied early at seven and Piedmont took an 8-7 lead, but it was short-lived as William Peace took a 20-9 lead. In the second set, Piedmont again was close with the set tied at nine, but the Pacers again raced ahead for the 25-14 win. 

The final set saw Piedmont's best effort against the Pacers with the set tied at 17, but WPU outscored Piedmont 8-2 down the stretch. JENNA ASH tallied 10 kills in her second appearance as a Lady Lion making a big impact early in her career. Gunn again led the team with 18 assists and JESSICA BEIL added 12 digs. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
--Piedmont's lone set win Friday came in the second set against Guilford as Piedmont won 25-22. 
--Piedmont forced extra points in the final set against Guilford but the Quakers edged out Piedmont 26-24. 

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
--Senior JESSICA BEIL anchored Piedmont defensively leading the team in digs in both contests totaling 27 in the two matches. 
--JENNA ASH tallied double-digit kills in her second match of the season as the freshman from Cleveland, Georgia led the team with 10 kills against William Peace. 

UP NEXT:
--The Lady Lions complete day two of tournament action on Saturday with a pair of matches against Washington and Lee and Roanoke.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
- To stay up to date on all information regarding Piedmont University Athletics, be sure to visit PiedmontLions.com and connect with the Green and Gold on social media. Follow the Lions on Twitter: @PiedmontLions, Instagram: @PiedmontLions, and Facebook. To follow each Piedmont athletic program on social media, use the Social Media Directory at PiedmontLions.com or click here.