Lady Bulldogs Drop Two on The First Day of the Phoenix Classic

LEBANON, Tenn. (August 16, 2024) – To prepare for looks to be a grueling HBCUAC season, Fisk University Lady Bulldog Head Coach Jessica Enderle decided to play a tough schedule. The season started off with Fisk playing in the Phoenix Classic at Cumberland (TN) University. The Lady Bulldogs dropped the first two games against two powerhouse teams in Missouri Valley College (3-1) and Blue Mountain (MS) College (3-0). Everyone watching could see that the effort was there.

"Of course, we wanted to win but I saw some positives after watching film," said Enderle. "We have some things to clean up, but we played well. I really saw the grit in the fourth set against Mo. Valley. If we get that effort all year, we will be tough to beat."

Lady Dawgs Drops Hard-Fought Match

The Lady Bulldogs took the second set but couldn't get over the hump as they fell to Missouri Valley College 12-25, 25-21, 18-25, and 30-32. A lot of bright spots came out of the match as sophomore setter Trinity Britt had her coming out party with a double-double of 38 assists and 13 digs. Reagan Jones also looked sharp tallying 17 kills and nine digs in he Fisk debut. Belmont transfer Sydney Willis knocked down 12 kills while swinging at a .370 clip. La'Niya Lumpkins' seven kills came off of an impressive .500 swinging percentage.

Set 1 (12-25) Slow Start Dooms Lady Bulldogs

After playing in the first game of the classic, Mo. Valley came out hot, with a .419 hitting percentage and dominated the first set that only had one tie. Laila Esters led Fisk with two kills in the set.

Set 2 (25-21) Lady Bulldogs Hold on to Tie the Match

Fisk sprinted out to a 3-1 start and held steady to a 6-3 lead on a Lumpkins service ace. Mo. Valley rallied back and took the lead at 7-6 on a 4-0 run. Willis' kill tied the score at seven and seemed to give the Lady Bulldogs the lift they needed. Two Jones kills made the score 12-10, forcing a Mo. Valley timeout.

The set became competitive after that. A long volley, won by Mo. Valley to tie the score at 14, seemed to energize Fisk. Willis keyed the next three points with a block and a kill to give her team a 17-14 lead. A Jones kill made the score 20-16. Mo. Valley's 2-0 run made the score 20-18 forcing Fisk to take a timeout. Mo. Valley kept the momentum going and tied the score at 21 on an ace by Ksenija Simun. The Lady Bulldogs scored the final four points, finishing the match on consecutive kills by Lumpkins and Trinty Crawford.

Willis had five kills, with Britt having ten assists in the set. On the defensive end, Fisk scooped up 20 digs.

 Set 3 (18-25) 13-1 Run Fuels Mo. Valley to Take 2-1 Lead

The Lady Bulldogs took over momentum of the set early, racing out to a 7-3 lead. Lumpkins keyed the early run with two kills and a block. Mo. Valley's 4-0 run tied the game at eight, forcing a timeout. Willis' kill made the score 9-8, but Mo. Valley took control of the set, first going on a 5-0 run to make the score 15-11, forcing  a Fisk timeout. They continued on making it a 13-1 run after three consecutive aces by Ana Oro. Wilis got hot, scoring the next three points on a block and two kills to make it interesting again at 23-17. Mo. Valley finished off the set with the next two points.

Set 4 (30-32) Lady Bulldogs Can't Hold On in 32-30 Instant Classic

Fisk dug themselves a big hole but came back. Mo. Valley scored the first three points of the set, then looked like they would running away and hide when they made it 9-4. The Lady Bulldogs went to work and crept back to tie the score at 12 on a Jones kill during a 4-1 run. Fisk took the lead at 16-12, extending the run to 6-0.

A 5-1 Mo. Valley run gave them the lead at 17-16, forcing a Fisk timeout. Jones got busy, propelling the Lady Bulldogs to a 23-21 lead with four kills and a block. Mo. Valley crawled back and sent the set into deuce. The seesaw battle ended after six deuces.

The competitive set had 12 ties and four lead changes. Jones had ten kills in the set, with Britt tallying 17 helpers.

Lady Bulldogs Fall in Straight Sets To Blue Mountain

The Fisk Lady Bulldogs, after a grueling first match against Missouri Valley, got off to a slow start and lost to Blue Mountain (MS) College 19-25, 23-25, and 14-25 in their second game at the Phoenix Classic. BMC ran out to an 11-4 lead and never looked back in the first set.

 Fisk was able to make it interesting, with a 4-0 run late in the set t make the score 20-16. A BMC 3-1 run made it set point at 24-17. Two Sydney Willis kills cut the lead to four, but BMC closed out the set with a kill.

The second set was the most competitive one with the Lady Bulldogs tying the frame at nine after a 4-0 run. The set became a seesaw battle but after a 23 all tie, BMC scored the final two points to go up 2-0. Set three was competitive early, but BMC took over going up by as much as eight points.

Willis led all attackers with 11 kills. Trinity Britt had a game-high 24 assists, giving her 62 on the day. Lumpkins continued her consistent swinging with a .400 percentage on five kills. Defensively, Nialah Gupton had 16 digs, and Reagan Jones scooped up 11.

Up Next: Fisk will take on William Carey (MS) College and Ave Marie (FL) College on Saturday to close out the Phoenix Classic.