No. 13 Walters State defeats Snead State, falls to No. 12 Enterprise State at Wallace State Fall Bash

HANCEVILLE, AL – No. 13 Walters State opened up play at the Wallace State Fall Bash on Friday, defeating Snead State 3-1 (25-20, 15-25, 25-20, 25-21) before falling 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 16-25, 25-22) to No. 12 Enterprise State.

With the split, the Lady Senators moved to 10-2 on the season. 

In the first match of the day, Walters State got off to a great start with the four-set win over Snead State. 

Leading the way for Walters State was Lauren Mims with 19 digs, eight kills and four blocks. Along with Mims, Sydney Bjornstad had 24 digs and two aces and Rylee Haynie had 10 kills and five blocks. Other contributors for the Lady Senators were Alyssa Campbell with eight kills and four blocks, Catherine Sweeney with seven kills and two blocks, Annah Cate Hyatt with 20 assists, Payton Brown with 14 digs and Olivia Brown with 15 assists. 

The Lady Senators broke out to a 13-6 lead in the opening set of the match and made it 14-7 after a kill from Mims. Walters State kept their foot on the gas soon after and increased their lead to 18-9 on a kill by Sweeney, a kill by Veda Barton and an ace by Sweeney. 

The lead grew to 23-12 for the Lady Senators following two kills by Haynie and a kill by Campbell. Snead State scored six straight to keep it close but two service errors gave Walters State their final two points and a 25-20 set win.

In the second set, Snead State came out quick and grabbed a 10-4 lead. Mims and Campbell recorded kills to try and get Walters State back into it, but Snead State grew the lead out to 18-9. Needing a spark, Walters State got it and a block by Haynie, an ace by Payton Brown and a kill by Haynie cut the lead to 19-15. 

However, that was as close as they would get as Snead State scored the final six points of the set to tie the match with a 25-15 second set win.

The third set was back-and-forth, with the two teams tied at three, four and five before Snead got up 10-6. The Lady Senators responded with five straight points to take an 11-10 lead, but Snead scored three straight to go up 13-11. Mims had a kill to tie the set back at 13, but Snead grabbed the lead back and grew it to 20-17.

Fortunately, that was the last point Snead State would get in the set. With Bjornstad serving, Walters State scored the final eight points of the set to take it, 25-20. During the run, Haynie had a kill, Bjornstad had an ace and Hyatt recorded a kill. 

In the final set, Walters State scored five of the first six points to grab an early lead. Snead State tied things at five, six and eight, but Hyatt had a kill to push the Lady Senators advantage to 10-8. Snead once again tied things at 10 and 11, and briefly took the lead at 12-11 and 14-13, but the Lady Senators grabbed a 15-14 lead they would not relinquish. 

At 15-14, Hyatt had a kill and Haynie had an ace to give Walters State some breathing room. It was 20-16 after kills from Hyatt and Campbell, and 21-18 following another kill from Campbell. Snead State tried to fight back, but the lead would never go below three. At 24-21, Haynie recorded a kill that closed the set and match out. 

In the second match of the day against No. 12 Enterprise State, Walters State fell behind by two sets and could not overcome the deficit. 

Leading the way for the Lady Senators in the match was Mims with nine kills, two blocks and 13 digs. Other contributors included Campbell with 10 kills and six blocks, Hyatt with 22 assists, two aces and 10 digs, Haynie with seven kills and two blocks, Payton Brown with 25 digs and Bjornstad with 12 digs and two aces. 

Up Next:

Walters State will play two more matches in the Walters State Fall Bash on Saturday The Lady Senators will take on Lawson State at 12 p.m. ET and host Wallace State at 4 p.m. ET.