FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State volleyball team fell to Fairmont State on their final game of the season 3-1 on Friday evening.
The Bobcats began the night by recognizing three seniors before the game in McKenna Houser, Bianca Smalls and Edwyna Lainez, who have all had major impacts on the program throughout their careers.
Houser had the honor of taking the opening serve for Frostburg in the final start of her career. The first Bobcat kill came from freshman Amanda Knieper, though the Fighting Falcons jumped out to 9-4 lead before a kill from junior Beverly Braun got Frostburg going. The Bobcats would fight back to a score of 15-13 after a kill from sophomore AJ Thompson, but Fairmont turned up the pressure, winning the set 25-16.
The Fighting Falcons would use the momentum from the first set win to push out to an early 7-3 lead in set two. Frostburg again fought back as a Thompson kill made the set 10-7 before sophomore Phoebe Lingold came up with a huge ace. The Bobcats then tied the set at 12-12 on an attack error from Fairmont, followed by a kill from freshman Joie Allen after the Falcons had retaken the lead at 19-16. Frostburg put together four straight points, with Thompson serving to tie the set at 21-21, causing Fairmont to take a time out with a rocking Bobcat Arena. The Bobcats finished off the set with four straight points, winning 25-21 to tie up the match.
The third set started off with the teams exchanging points and searching for who would find the momentum. Frostburg took the first run out to a five point lead at 12-7 on a kill from Thompson. The Falcons would respond with three straight points, cutting the Bobcat lead to two. Frostburg would get three straight kills from Allen, Thompson and Knieper to make the score 15-10, then Thompson came up with a huge block to make the score 16-12. Fairmont would put together a run of their own, retaking the lead at 18-17. Junior McKaily Thomson-Moran would respond on a kill from the center of the net making the score 18-18. The set would be tied two twice more before Fairmont would take the last momentum of the set, winning 25-23.
Braun started off the fourth set with a kill for the Bobcats, but Fairmont went on a run, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. A kill from Knieper made the score 11-6 as Frostburg tried to fight back, then Braun would have a hard-hit ball down the line to make the set 15-9. Frostburg would put three straight points together to cut the lead to five before Lainez played a surprise attack over the net, throwing off the Falcons to make the set 22-17. The Bobcats continued to battle the rest of the way, but ultimately lost 25-20 to give Fairmont the match victory.
Braun led the offense with 13 kills, followed by Thompson's eight and Knieper's seven. Sophomore Fiona Gonzalez Medina was outstanding defensively, setting a new career-high with 31 digs, which also was the most in the match. Lainez and redshirt junior Hayley Delor combined for 37 assists, as Lainez ends her career as the program's eight all-time career leader in assists with 1,177.
Frostburg finishes the season with a record of 16-16, picking up seven more wins than the previous season, while Fairmont improves to 27-4 as they will continue their season at the MEC Tournament.
