Senior Day Comeback Falls Short in Volleyball Home Finale

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Volleyball team concluded their regular season with a 3-1 loss at home to Fairmont State on Friday night.
 
Prior to the match, the Bobcats honored seniors Jenna Gossard, Katie Keech, Hayley Delor, and McKaily Thomson-Moran, each of which are finishing out their Frostburg careers.
 
The Fighting Falcons came out the stronger of the two sides, jumping ahead 5-1 early in set one. Senior Beverly Braun, Delor, Thomson-Moran, freshman Paige Mock, and sophomore Amanda Knieper all recorded kills in helping the Bobcats to recover, bringing the score back to 8-6. Fairmont used a 6-2 run to go back up by six, eventually leading 17-10. Thomson-Moran got back-to-back Frostburg kills but couldn't pull the team anywhere closer than a five-point deficit, as the Falcons went on to take the set 25-18.
 
Set two began in similar fashion to the first, with Fairmont taking a quick 7-3 lead before the Bobcats responded through Thomson-Moran, a Knieper block with junior AJ Thompson, and an ace by freshman Alyssa Stanton to pull within one. The Falcons proceeded to go on runs of two, three, and four points, taking full control of the set at 20-10. Braun knocked down two straight kills, but the visitors took the final five points in a row tin win 25-12.
 
Thompson and Braun put down the first three Bobcat points to start the third set, before four straight from Fairmont turned things into a back-and-forth affair. With the Falcons up 9-8, Frostburg used a 12-4 run to lead 20-13, as Braun, Knieper, Thompson, Thomson-Moran, and Delor all recording kills, the latter also tacking on an ace. Slowly but surely, Fairmont fought their way back, chipping away at their deficit until they got all the way back within 23-21. Braun put the Bobcats at three set points, and while the Falcons were able to fend off the first two, the Frostburg outside ended things by finding the floor at 25-23.
 
Both teams were evenly matched in the early stages of the fourth set, then the Bobcats took control with six points in a row, as Knieper kicked things off with a kill, Thomson-Moran served up a trio of aces, and Thompson and Mock stuffed an attack to go ahead 11-6. Fairmont responded with six of the next seven, tying things at 12-12. Thompson, Delor, and Braun each scored to put Frostburg ahead by two, then the Falcons won the next five to lead 18-15. The Bobcats were able to stay within range on kills from Braun, Mock, and Thomson-Moran, but Fairmont's advantage stood at 23-20 in search of securing the match. Knieper and Braun each found the floor either side of a Keech ace to tie the set at 23-23, but Falcon Ellie Zuro scored back-to-back kills to take the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.
 
Braun led all scorers with 18 kills, as Knieper joined her in double figures with 10. Junior Fiona Gonzalez Medina (20), Gossard (17), and Delor (14) all had fine days in their dig totals, while Thompson led the defense at the net with three blocks.
 
With the loss, Frostburg falls to 15-15, while Fairmont improves to 17-14. Both teams will advance to the MEC tournament, where they await their seeds and matchups based on other results around the league. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.