For the first time this season, the Mississippi University for Women men’s soccer team lost consecutive games, following Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to Huntingdon with a 3-0 defeat to Rhodes on Sunday at Lowndes County Soccer Complex.
The Owls were on the defensive for most of the first half, allowing 16 shots while taking just three. But it took 39 minutes for Rhodes to get on the scoreboard with Wes Adams’ unassisted tally. Three minutes later, Nico DeFilippis assisted on Eli Pilcher’s goal to send the Lynx into halftime ahead 2-0.
The lead was 3-0 less than 10 minutes into the second half on an unassisted goal by Buecker, but from there The W’s defense tightened. The Owls allowed only six shots after halftime. In all, six Lynx shots were on goal, and Owls keeper David McCutchen made 3 saves.
Juniors Kai VanCourt, Terrell Johnson and Reggi Pech and senior Asahel Salgado had shot attempts for MUW. Salgado’s shot was on goal.
The Owls will be off until Friday, Oct. 1, when they travel to Huntsville, Alabama, for a 3 p.m. match against Oakwood University. The W defeated Oakwood 5-1 on Sept. 19 in Columbus.
Cross-country
Owls men, women place sixth at Blue Mountain
The men’s and women’s cross-country teams each finished in sixth place Thursday at the Topper Trails Classic hosted by Blue Mountain College.
Kaitlyn McRee led The W women, covering the 5K course in 26 minutes, 55.96 seconds to place 35th. Teammate Kalee Sanders was close behind in 37th, crossing in 27:47.79.
Owls runners Michalah Adams (46th, 39:22.65), Vonisha Towns (47th, 39:22.12) and Aziyah McGhee (48th, 39:22.65) accounted for the rest of The W’s scoring runners.
Alajah Armstrong and Amyah Kahey ran as unattached and placed 49th and 50th, respectively.
In the men’s 8K race, Joshua Gonsalves finished 31st, crossing the line in 31:56.55. Teammate Carson Holly was 39th, finishing in 33:55.05.
Tavonta Macon (49th, 39:48.36) and Kemarie Wade (50th, 39:48.43) finished back to back, while Brandon Brown capped The W’s scoring runners in 52nd at 40:53.77.
Jerald Shelvy ran unattached and placed 55th.
The Owls next race Oct. 8 at Choctaw Trails in Clinton in the Mississippi College Invitational.
Volleyball
Unbeaten Dillard keeps Owls winless
For the fourth time this season, The W’s volleyball team lost to a team with an unblemished record heading into a match, this time falling 25-16, 25-18, 25-18 to Dillard University at Pohl Gym.
Dillard, which was coming off two wins over NCAA Division I Alcorn State last week, hit an impressive .320 for the match. The Owls were held to a .107 attack average against DU’s front line.
Maggie Griggs and Jasmine Kelly each had 5 kills, accounting for 10 of the Owls’ 24 total kills. Kelly hit .333 (1 error in 12 attempts), while Griggs turned in a .211 attack average (1 error; 19 attempts). Llayne Skinner and Camryn Johnson chipped in 4 and 3 kills, respectively.
Skinner served up 4 of The W’s 6 service aces.
Defensively, Madison Suggs led the back row corps with 10 digs and a .958 reception average, making just one error in 24 receiving tries. Skinner added 7 digs.
As a team, The W (0-6) strung together a .906 receiving percentage. The Blue Devils (5-0) managed just a .865 average against the Owls’ servers.
Next for the Owls is a visit to Tougaloo for a 6 p.m. match Thursday.
Tennis
Owls open fall season at D-III opponent
The W’s tennis teams opened the fall portion of their season at NCAA Division III foe Huntingdon College. The Owls’ men’s team lost 8-1, while the women’s team fell 7-2.
Sophomore Jacob Davis of West Point was the lone men’s winner for the Owls, defeating Tanner Lynn 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
The women’s team picked up wins at No. 3 and No. 5 singles. At third, sophomore Maggie Taylor of Columbus split sets with Huntingdon’s Kate Morris before taking the pro-set tiebreak 10-7. Freshman Sarah Kackley rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Erin Boutwell at fifth.
Women’s soccer
Rhodes overwhelms visiting Owls
Senior keeper Sarah Gilliland made 8 saves but was bombarded by 17 shots on goal by Rhodes College in a 9-0 defeat in Memphis, Tennessee.
Rhodes, which has lost only to Washington University of St. Louis, the No. 5 team in NCAA Division III, led 3-0 at the half and took 28 shots to just three for the Owls.
The Owls (2-3) will try to right the ship Tuesday when Birmingham-Southern visits Columbus at 6 p.m.
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