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Washington Evening Journal
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Fairfield tops Mt. Pleasant in SEC regular season finale
Panther force fourth set, but can’t send it to a fifth against Trojans
FAIRFIELD — Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant squared off with one another in the two’s final Southeast Conference regular season matchup on Tuesday night.
The SEC leading Trojans solidified their regular season title with a 3-1 victory over the Panthers after back-to-back opening set wins and a narrow fourth set victory, 25-15, 25-12, 24-26 and 25-23.
Mt. Pleasant did well to battle back in the final two sets, but came up just short in the comeback.
In the opening set, Fairfield jumped out to a 4-2 lead after kills from Jorja Haggard and Lilly Bergren with an ace from Rowan Terrell.
They would never give up the advantage after that.
Mt. Pleasant got it back down to one at 6-5 and then two at 8-6 after a kill from Emma Starr, but the Panthers would never come any closer in set one.
The Panthers and Trojan came out and battled early in the second frame as well as the pair tied at 4-4.
However, Fairfield followed with five straight set points to make it 9-4.
From then on out, Fairfield controlled the rest of the set, building up leads of 16-8 and 20-9 off another five point run.
Mt. Pleasant scored just three more points from that point and Fairfield scored the final five points in the second.
In the third, things were a lot closer down the stretch.
Fairfield looked as if they were going to run away with it early as they leapt out to a 4-0 lead.
The Trojans led all the way until the Panthers knotted it at 14-14. On the next serve, an ace from Alex Scott gave Mt. Pleasant its first lead, 15-14.
Mt. Pleasant built its lead to as much as three at, 17-14, but Fairfield didn’t let it get out of hand.
The Panthers and Trojans tied five times from that point on with the final coming at 24-24.
A kill from Scott put the Panthers up 24-22, but back-to-back violations gave the Trojans the tie.
After a timeout by the Panthers, the Trojans hit the ball into the net and Mt. Pleasant scored the next point to force a fourth set.
The fourth was as close as the third, but it was Mt. Pleasant who carried the momentum over early on.
Another kill from Scott gave Mt. Pleasant a 6-3 lead in the opening stages of the fourth and the Panther eventually led by as much as five at 9-4.
However after leading 10-7, Mt. Pleasant saw the advantage dwindle and eventually evaporate as Fairfield scored five unanswered to retake the lead, 12-10.
After miss serve by Fairfield, an ace from Emma Starr sparked what would be a seven point swing by the Panthers and a 17-12 advantage.
The Panthers kept the pressure on building up a six-point lead, their largest of the night, at 22-16.
Fairfield didn’t back down.
The Trojans blistered back with five points capped off with a Panther miss hit to cut it to one, 22-21.
A Starr kill gave the Panthers a two point cushion, but three straight errors put the Trojans on top 24-23.
Fairfield was able to win it dropping the ball on the Panther’s side of the floor once more.
With the victory, Fairfield moves to 11-9 on the season and 4-1 in SEC play. Mt. Pleasant drops to 4-20 and 1-4 in conference action.
