(London, Ontario) – The Fanshawe Women's Volleyball squad (1-1) dropped a 3-1 contest to the number 13 nationally ranked Mohawk Mountaineers (1-0) on Saturday afternoon at home.
The teams exchanged points to open the match, with the Falcons getting a point after an excellent dig from Dez Chanthaboury (Kitchener, ON). A strong kill from Lauren Vahrmeyer (Vineland, ON) continued the momentum for the home team. Mohawk put the pressure on Fanshawe throughout the set, but a huge block from local outside hitter Kiana Lee gave the Falcons a slim lead. The Birds were able to maintain their lead and won the first set 25-20.
The Mountaineers came out strong in set two, but Ashley Rafferty (Peace River, AB) set up Lee for a hit to get Fanshawe going. Unfortunately, Mohawk went on a 5-0 run midway through the set to begin to pull away. The score of the second frame was 25-13 for the Mountaineers.
Mohawk continued where they left off to begin the third set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Consecutive blocks from rookie Sam Gibson (London, ON) and Chanthaboury excited Fanshawe's bench. Despite the red and white's best efforts, they could not recover from the early deficit and fell 25-11.
Kills from Lee and Chanthaboury gave the Falcons points to open the fourth frame. Hannah Onyema (St. Thomas, ON) had a service ace to give Fanshawe a slim 9-8 advantage. Mohawk then stepped up their game and showed why they are ranked 13th in Canada. The Falcons could not regroup and lost the set 25-15 and the match 3-1.
Lee had a team-high 11 points and Vahrmeyer finished with eight. Fanshawe will be in tough once again on Wednesday, February 16 in their next match. The Falcons host the St. Clair Saints (1-0), who are currently ranked seventh in Canada, at 6:00 p.m. The game can be live streamed at www.fanshawefalcons.ca/watchlive.
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