Welcome to The Doghouse, a weekly column recapping Union University sports action from the weekend.
This weekend, the volleyball team was swept in the South Region Crossover Challenge, women’s soccer went 0-0-2, men’s soccer went 1-1, and men’s and women’s cross country dominated the Mississippi College Invitational.
Teams from the Sunshine State and Gulf South Conferences met for a crossover volleyball invitational in Orlando, Florida on Friday. Union lost each of their three games, starting with a sweep at the hands of Lynn University.
Union led 4-2 at first, but Lynn responded with a 7 point run. The Fighting Knights added to their lead with a 10-1 run to go up 20-7. Lynn took the set 25-14. In the second set, Lynn went up 4-0, but Union fought back to take a 9-8 lead. When Lynn started to pull away from the Lady Bulldogs, Union put up a 6-1 run to take a 19-17 lead. This translated into a 23-22 lead for Union, but Lynn won three straight to take the second set 25-23.
The third set was back and forth, with 12 tied scores. Late in the set, Lynn put together a 3-0 run to win 25-20. In the loss, Union had six service aces. Katie O’Malley and Jordan Davis led with eight kills, Hannah Huguley recorded 23 assists, and Audrey Cagle had 12 digs.
Union then faced No. 22 Florida Southern. In the first set, the score was close until the Mocs put together a five point run for an 18-11 lead. They won the set 25-19. The second set started with a 5-0 run from the Mocs. They dominated the set and won 25-14.
The third set was very back and forth, with Florida Southern leading at 16-12, but the Union tied it at 23 all. After a kill and an ace from O’Malley, the Lady Bulldogs won 25-23. Union could not keep up in the fourth set. They trailed 4-0 early and went on to lose 25-13. Florida Southern won the match 3-1 with 13 blocks. Union had five blocks, and Abby Schebel led with nine kills. O’Malley added eight kills, Huguley had recorded 27 assists, and Cagle led with 16 digs.
In their third match, the Lady Bulldogs faced No. 21 Tampa. Union trailed throughout the majority of the first set, eventually down 21-11. Tampa won 25-15. Union could not stick with the Spartans, and lost 25-11 and 25-10 in the second and third sets respectively.
Union’s Suheily Colon-Rodriguez had eight kills, and Huguely helped with 16 assists. Cagle and Huguley each recorded five digs in the match.
This 0-3 weekend puts Union volleyball at a 7-14 record.
Women’s soccer faced Valdosta State Friday in a double overtime matchup, which ended in a tie.
In the 20th minute, Valdosta State’s Ava Scott-Moncrief scored. Union keeper Kristen Francis got a hand on the ball but could not get the save. Suvi Savolainen scored in the 48th minute to put the Blazers up 2-0. Union responded with a goal from Kelsey Wilkes in the 71st minute and a goal from Shelby High in the 80th minute. All four goals were unassisted.
Neither team scored in two periods of overtime, hence the 2-2 draw.
Sunday, Union traveled to West Georgia for another double overtime game.
Each team had one goal in the game. In the 31st minute, Kelsey Wilkes put a ball in the bottom left of the goal for Union. Katie Mitchell scored on a free kick in the 48th minute for West Georgia.
The 1-1 tie gives Union a record of 4-4-5.
The men’s team played Mississippi College Friday, losing 2-1.
Horatio Gutierrez scored in the 27th minute, assisted by Graham Bobo. Then, Jacob Farthing found the net in the 29th minute of play. Paul Langford had the lone goal for the Bulldogs in the 67th minute. He leads the team with five on the season.
Sunday, Union played Delta State and won 2-1.
Daniel Bile scored first for the Bulldogs. In the 42nd minute, Bile rebounded a shot off the crossbar and put the ball into the net. Brock Hollier answered with a goal in the 50th minute to tie the game. In the 64th minute, Cole Asfour gave Union the lead with a left footed shot.
In women’s cross country, Union took first out of nine Division II teams at the Mississippi College Invitational.
The Lady Bulldogs had a team time of 1:36:04. Janey Berends led with an 18:44 finish, the best of all Division II competitors. Sarah Fickley came in at 19:07, good for third.
Also for Union, Amy McKelvey took fourth, Amanda Leatherwood took ninth, Rebecca Tankersley took 10th, Abby Berends took 11th, Lindsey Jakeman took 12th, Jordan Meadors took 22nd, Rebecca Dalton took 25th, and Gabbie Stevens took 37th.
This is the second straight win for Union and is also the second year in a row that they won the Mississippi College Iniviational.
The men’s cross country team finished fourth at Mississippi College. They earned 84 points with a team time of 2:20:00.
Jacob Whitney led the field with a time of 25:45. He was followed by teammate Will Donelson who took third overall. Aineah Kipkemboi took 27th, Alex Russell took 29th, Forrest White took 34th, and Ben Noland took 38th.
Looking ahead, men’s and women’s golf will host the Union University Fall Invitational at the Jackson Country Club on Monday and Tuesday. Volleyball plays at Lee University on Tuesday, at Christian Brothers on Friday, and at Mississippi College on Saturday. Also Saturday, men’s and women’s cross country will race in the Gulf South Conference Championships. On Sunday, women’s and men’s soccer host Christian Brothers. The basketball season is around the corner, so Union Bulldog Madness is on Thursday.