Oilers Lose in Four to Arkansas Fort Smith

Fairbanks, Alas.- The University of Findlay volleyball team continued their trip to Alaska today as they faced Arkansas Fort Smith on Friday, Sept. 2  at the Denali State Bank Ice Blocker Classic. The Oilers fell to the Lions, by a score of 3-1 (15-25, 25-22, 25-17,26-24) and are currently 0-5 on the year. With the win, Arkansas Fort Smith moves to 5-1 on the season.

Fairbanks, Alas.- The University of Findlay volleyball team continued their trip to Alaska today as they faced Arkansas Fort Smith on Friday, Sept. 2  at the Denali State Bank Ice Blocker Classic. The Oilers fell to the Lions, by a score of 4-1 (15-25, 25-22, 25-17,26-24) and fall to 0-5 on the year. With the win, Arkansas Fort Smith moves to 5-1 on the season.

In the first set, the teams went back-and forth but it was the Oilers who went on a 10-3 stretch to give them a decent lead at the end of the set. Findlay was able to build on that momentum to close out the set, winning their first set of the season. The Oilers hit .297 in the set while the Lions failed to connect, hitting 0.

In the second set, both teams went back-and-forth and neither was able to take control. The lead was never greater than two for either team. However, the Lions pulled out a 7-3 run to take the lead late in the match. The Oilers didn't go down without a fight as they tried to rally back and  brought the score to 23-22 but after a kill from the Lions followed by an Oiler error, Arkansas Fort Smith tied the match at 1-1.

The third set was again back-and-forth. The Lions scored eight consecutive points on the Oilers to bring the score to 21-12. The Oilers tried to create a rally of their own with the next three consecutive points but they fell short as Arkansas Fort Smith capitalized on Findlay's errors.

The fourth set, once again, was back-and-forth until the very last points. With the score tied at 23, the momentum was in the Oilers favor. With a service error late in the match the Lions took advantage. A kill by Abby Cagle put the Lions up by one. It was another error by the Oilers that gave the Lions their fifth win of the season.

As a team, Findlay hit just .196, picking up 52 kills and making 23 errors. They hit just .13 in the final set giving the Lions the win. On the other side, Arkansas Fort Smith  hit .240 in the match. 

Sophomore Journey Blevins led Findlay with 18 attacks but had 49 attempts for a hitting percentage of just .184. Freshman Alana Pohlman  played well, picking up 10 kills on 19 attempts  to hit .368. Senior Emma Meyer chipped in seven kills.

Freshman Emma White had a team-high 42 assists while sophomore Ava Doster contributed sixteen digs. Emma Meyer also had six blocks on the night.

The Oilers will conclude the Denali State Bank Ice Blocker Classic as they face both Florida Southern and Alaska Fairbanks in the final day of the tournament. Those games are set to start at 4:00pm EST and 11:30pm EST.