Milic breaks serving record in victory
Not only did Marija Milic jump into sole possession of the NAIA’s top service ace leader, she broke Freed-Hardeman’s single season record with her 61st service ace. By the end of the night her total was up to 62 as the Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions defeated the Mississippi University for Women Owls 3-1 (29-31, 25-22, 25-19, 25-21) in the second game of a doubleheader.
Milic stepped to the line as the Lady Lion’s (16-12) first server of the match and ignited FHU to jump out to an 8-2 lead thanks to a tandem block from Iza Wos and Avery Young. The Owls answered with five unanswered points with a kill to narrow the FHU lead to 10-8. After a set of attack errors gave MUW the lead, the squads traded scores well into extra points until back-to-back blocks gave MUW the first set with a 31-29 marathon.
Young opened the second set with a kill before Milic’s kill opened a run that ended with FHU leading 6-3. The Owls (7-16) answered with six straight points of their own to flip the scoreboard to a 9-6 MUW lead. With a kill from Wos tying the set at 20-20, FHU scored the next four points to sit on set point 24-21. It took two tries before Audrey Orton slammed home the kill to win the set 25-22 and tie the match at one set apiece.
The Owls would jump out to a 7-5 lead before a Young ace helped FHU jump out to an 11-9 lead. Becca Heineman would anchor a four-point swing with back-to-back aces to help FHU a 17-11 lead. Wos had another kill to take a 2-1 match lead with a 25-19 set win.
Heineman showed her service prowess with three straight aces to start the fourth set with a 5-2 lead. The Lady Lions would never allow the Owls to settle into a rhythm until an error gave FHU the 25-21 set win to claim the match 3-1.
Though the serving spotlight shone on Marija Milic with her five aces, it was Becca Heineman that led the team with six. Iza Wos led the offense with 13 kills while Audrey Orton followed with 12.
Up Next - The Lady Lions return to league play with trips to Campbellsville and (RV) Lindsey Wilson on October 31 and November 1.
FHU connects for 20 service aces in sweep
In the first game of a twin bill the Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions smacked a season-high 20 service aces against the Rust (Miss.) College Bearcats in a 3-0 (25-11, 25-10, 25-12) sweep.
Though Rust took the first point of the match, the Lady Lions (15-12) would score 10 of the next 11 points to jump out to a 10-2 lead. Audrey Orton would then toe the service where her run began with a 12-5 lead and ended four aces later with a 20-5 edge. The Bearcats added late points, but another Orton ace fittingly ended the set 25-11.
Marija Milic was the service line heroine in the second set where her back-to-back aces put the Lady Lions ahead of the Bearcats (0-18) 9-1. The end of the set featured back-to-back kills from Avery Young to take a 2-0 match lead with a 25-10 set win.
After trading early points in the final frame, Hope Breen ended the match with back-to-back aces to cap a fantastic day at the line.
Hope Breen led the offense with eight kills while Audrey Orton had a team-high five aces. Kendra Price led the back row with seven digs.
Orton smashes career bests in league win
After a tough road trip, Audrey Orton and the Lady Lions returned to the Brewer Sports Center where Orton tallied career highs in both kills (19) and digs (22) in a 3-1 (25-16, 27-29, 25-20, 25-19) victory over the Bethel University Wildcats.
The opening set began strong for the Lady Lions (14-12, 2-6 MSC) with Alyssa Austin’s service ace giving the girls in maroon a 5-1 lead. Neither team would budge from that lead and never taking more than three straight points. The early lead was good enough for the 25-18 set victory after Hope Breen and Marija Milic’s block was followed by one of Orton’s big kills.
The second set was neck and neck for the entire set with Bethel (9-11, 3-5 MSC) and FHU drawing even on 10 separate occasions while trading leads seven different times. The Wildcats went on a late run to take a 19-17 lead, but three straight kills from Orton kept FHU in the set. A kill from Iza Wos gave the Lady Lions the smallest of set points, but Bethel managed to force extra points in the set. FHU had three different set points that Bethel rallied back from until recording the necessary two-point lead to tie the match 1-1 with a 29-27 set win.
A fast start in the third set gave FHU a 12-6 lead after another Milic block, but the Wildcats rallied to score six unanswered points.Thankfully for FHU the cushion helped with Orton being joined by Morgan Jackson will kills to extend the lead. Two Wildcat attacking errors gave the Lady Lions the 25-20 set win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
FHU’s front row took the lead in the fourth set with two different tandems recording blocks. First Avery Young joined Milic before Breen and Wos teamed up for a rejection. The Wildcats pulled within one point, but again Orton had the hot hand to strike three kills. Milic and Austin joined forces to wrap the Mid-South Conference victory with service aces in the 25-19 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
Audrey Orton led all hitters with a career-high of 19 kills at a .261 clip. In addition to her offensive play, Orton pulled up a career-best 22 digs on the back row. Joining Orton were Hope Breen with 12 kills, Autumn Howard with 19 digs, and Avery Young with 13 digs. Becca Heineman and Alyssa Austin teamed up with 24 and 22 assists, respectively.
