Cleveland State defeated Hiwassee College on the road by a score of 3-1 to open their 2018 season.
The Lady Cougars took an early 12-9 lead in set one after kill's by Ariana Smith, Peyton Eads and Kate Essenberg, Ariana Smith also had a tip in early in set one. Cleveland State ended up taking set one by a score of 25-23 with sophomore Kate Essenberg sending over a kill to end the set. Again in set two, Cleveland State took a commanding lead, at one point leading 12-7 after 3 kills issued by Ariana Smith and Aly Lemons. Lemons then serves up an ace and the Lady Cougars take a 19-10 lead, extending their lead. The Lady Cougars then take set two after the Tigers of Hiwasse College send the ball over the line to end set two, 25-14 in favor of Cleveland State.
Hiwassee College snagged a narrow set 3 victory in a back and forth affair with Cleveland State. The two teams were tied four different times in set two with the Tigers edging out the Cougars by a score of 26-24 to push the match score to 2-1. Set 4 began as another back and forth game between the Tigers and Cougars, as the two teams found themselves tied 3 different times. Eventually the Lady Cougars took the lead and ran with it thanks to an Aly Lemons kill. Cleveland State takes set 4 by a score of 25-18 thus winning the match by a final score of 3 sets to 1.
Starting the season off 1-0 the Lady Cougars are set up to start yet another successful season in their second year as a team at Cleveland State. Next up on the schedule, Cleveland State will take the road again in a matchup against Johnson University Florida. The match will take place on August 25th in Knoxville, TN starting at 4:00 PM.