DAVIDSON, N.C. — Facing a highly competitive Atlantic-10 team in Davidson, the Royals played a hard-fought match against the Wildcats but were not able to slice out the victory, dropping the contest by a 3-0 score (16-25, 22-25, 20-25).
The Royals (1-3, 0-0 ASUN) found themselves in a 13-6 hole before piecing together a comeback led by the powers of Victoria Wood at the net — bringing the Royals within four at a score of 13-9. However, Davidson continued to play aggressively, pushing the set to 19-11. Despite three consecutive kills later in the set by Jordyn Johnson, the 'Cats recollected themselves and finalized a 25-16 first set win.
In the second set, the Royals made their mark early. Queens capitalized on Davidson missteps, finding themselves at a 7-3 lead. Mia Compas and Kayla Davis kept the Wildcats within a two-point reach soon after, but two additional Davidson mistakes, a kill each from J. Johnson and Kaylin Dowling, and a solid block from the efforts of Kendall Buish and Kayla McDuffie put the Royals at a commendable 12-5 lead.
The motivation carried through for the Royals to give them an eventual 18-12 lead, but the Wildcats soon picked up their pace and secured six consecutive points to tie the set at 18 a piece. Queens traded points with the host and kept afloat, but a strong front held by Elena Garcia-Guerrios and Compas sealed the 25-22 triumph.
In the third, the Royals swung a .109 and connected on 10 kills while Davidson nearly edged them out with a .186 hitting percentage, connecting on 13 kills. The Wildcats held on for the final set, escaping with a 25-20 victory.
"Davidson plays clean volleyball," Head Coach Hannah Long said. "I think our players did really well from the service line, and I think our back-court defense was strong. When our team knew the game plan, we executed very well."
Victoria Wood and J. Johnson led the Royals squad with nine kills each while Buish was key on the assist game with 24. Jesse George completed the match with a leading-18 digs, and Anna Law and Buish combined for six stuffs at the net.
The Royals head into the final day of the Wildcat Classic against UNC Wilmington at 10:00 AM and finish with Northern Illinois at 3:30 PM on Saturday, Sep. 2. Fans can keep up with the action through live stats here, and on the Queens Royals volleyball schedule tab.
Be sure to follow the Queens Women's Volleyball team on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest news and updates. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to keep up with all the Royals in action.
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