WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL’S COMEBACK NOT ENOUGH, FALLS TO TABOR

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A near-comeback in the fourth set was not enough for Avila, as the hometown Eagles fell to Tabor on Saturday at Mabee Fieldhouse, 3-1.

An extremely tight first set could have gone either way, but Tabor took the opener, 25-23. Neither team led by more than four in the opening set.

The first frame saw Tabor lead for the majority before Avila tied things up at 20 and took a 21-20 lead. With momentum on the home side, Tabor swung things back in their direction, ending the first on a 5-2 run.

The two teams alternated scores in the second and third, with each squad winning 25-18.

In the third, after splitting the first four points, Avila would go on to lead for the remainder of the set, stretching its lead to as many as seven. Kills by Leyton Foster, Payton Hofer and Maddie Jones ended the set, shrinking Tabor's lead to 2-1.

As a team, the Eagles hit .355 in the third set en route to the win.

It appeared that Tabor was going to run away with the fourth set, opening the frame with a 12-5 lead. From there, the Eagles went on a 12-4 run to take a 17-16 lead. Two services aces from Jones helped Avila put up six unanswered.

A Tabor timeout seemed to swing momentum back in the visitor's favor. The two teams were tied at 21 apiece, where it was anyone's set. Unfortunately for the home fans, the Bluejays ended with four-straight points – three of which came from Avila attack errors – to take the set, 25-21 and the match, 3-1.

Sydney Owens (nine kills, 13 digs) and Jones (nine kills, 11 digs) had near double-doubles, while Da'Mya Dickson (15 assists and 11 digs) was able to get a double-double to her stat line.

Owens' 13 digs brought her over the 600 mark in her Avila career. Owens' accomplishment came one game after Sophia Giorgio recorded her 800^th dig on Wednesday.

With just five matches remaining, Avila will look for a win as they take on St. Mary on Wednesday at 7 PM at Mabee Fieldhouse.

 (photo credit: Keagan Kight)