Blossoms Close Volleyball Season

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Photo by Will Collins

Last Practice - Blossom volleyball players practice for the final time in their inaugural season. The team did not qualify for postseason play.

Blossoms Drop Heartbreaker in Season Finale

   The University of Arkansas at Monticello Cotton Blossoms (9-18, 4-10 GSC) dropped a heartbreaker in their season finale, falling 3-2 to Southern Arkansas Nov. 4 at Steelman Fieldhouse.

   The Lady Muleriders took charge early, winning a close opening game 30-28 to take an early 1-0 match lead. SAU pushed ahead to 2-0 after an outstanding second game where the Lady Riders hit .436 and forced eight UAM errors.

   The Blossoms fought back in the third game, pulling to within 2-1 with a 30-25 win and evened the match in the fourth game with a 30-26 win. However, the Blossoms came up just short in the fifth and decisive game, falling 15-11 to seal the Lady Mulerider victory.

   Katy Stoneking led the Blossoms with 14 kills. Kasey McBrearty added 13 while Amanda Sayre pitched in 12. Maegan Martin dished out 41 assists, while Amie Kronk had 40 digs. Joining Kronk in double-digit digs were Sayre (16), McBrearty (16) and Martin (12).

   The loss ends the inaugural season for the Cotton Blossoms, who did not qualify for postseason play.

Blossoms Fall to Lady Bucs in Final Road Match

MEMPHIS, TENN. --- After taking an exciting opening game, the University of Arkansas at Monticello Cotton Blossoms were unable to overcome the offensive onslaught of the Christian Brothers Lady Bucs, falling 3-1 Nov. 2 in Memphis.

   CBU opened the match on a hot streak, opening game one with a 6-1 lead. The Cotton Blossoms clawed back, finally tying the opener at 17-17. The two teams traded points down the stretch, eventually ending up tied 30-30, when the Lady Bucs committed a pair of attack errors to give the Blossoms an early 1-0 match lead.

   Sayre had 12 first-game kills.

   From that point forward, the Blossoms struggled against a potent Christian Brothers offense that hit .213, .385 and .297 in the next three games while the UAM offense hit .057, .212 and .000. The Lady Bucs posted game victories of 30-23, 30-18 and 30-19 in those games to seal the win.

   Sayre finished with 29 kills, leading all players, and hit .273 for the match. McBrearty added 11 kills and Stoneking added 10. Martin dished out 55 assists, while Sayre added a match-high 24 digs. McBrearty added 18 digs while Kronk pitched in 16.

Blossoms Sweep Sugar Bears

CONWAY, ARK. --- Katy Stoneking hit a UAM record .577 on the strength of 15 kills and no errors, and Amanda Sayre led all players with 20 kills as the Cotton Blossoms swept the University of Central Arkansas Sugarbears Oct. 27 at the Prince Center.

   The Blossoms dominated the match, winning the opener 30-24 and taking games two and three by the scores of 30-20 and 30-21. UAM hit .316, .357 and .373 while holding UCA to .152, .128 and .172; outhitting the Sugarbears .351 to .154 for the match.

   Sayre's 20 kills paced all players while Stoneking and McBrearty added 15 kills apiece. Stoneking's .577 hitting percentage is seventh-best in the Gulf South Conference this season.

  Martin dished out 44 assists while Kronk led all players with 23 digs. McBrearty joined Kronk in double digits with 10 digs.

Blossoms Drop Heartbreaker to OBU

   The Cotton Blossoms dropped a 3-1 heartbreaker to Ouachita Baptist Oct. 25 at Steelman Fieldhouse.

   The Lady Tigers opened the match on a tear, taking the first two games 30-28 and 30-25 before the Cotton Blossoms pulled to within 2-1 with a 30-24 win in game three. The hotly contested fourth game saw OBU rally from a 25-20 deficit to take a 33-31 victory to seal the match.

   Sayre led all players with 26 kills while McBrearty added 23 kills. Stoneking joined Sayre and McBrearty in double-digits with 10 kills. Martin dished out 62 assists while Sayre added a match-high 24 digs.

   Sayre also hit .373 to lead the Blossoms.
 

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