WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - After opening the 2023 season with a pair of losses on Friday in the Viper Sports Academy Classic in West Palm Beach, Fla., the University of Mobile Volleyball team responded well on Saturday, Aug. 19 with two impressive victories, including a sweep over host-school Keiser University (Fla.) to begin the day and a five-set thrilling win against Campbellsville University (Ky.) later that afternoon. Following the first of three tournaments on the 2023 schedule, Mobile heads home with a 2-2 overall record.
Match Recap: Mobile 3, Keiser 0
Mobile and Keiser met early on Saturday morning to begin the second day of the Viper Sports Academy Classic, with the Rams starting the day strong with a 25-22 set one victory over the Seahawks. In the second set, Mobile continued momentum over Keiser and eventually earned a 25-20 win in set two. In the third set, it was all Mobile as Keiser had no answers and fell to the Rams 25-15 for the first loss of the season. Saturday's meeting is just the third all-time meeting between the two programs, with Mobile winning two of the three played.
The attack was much more consistent for Mobile on Saturday following a rough Friday where the Rams hit under .200 in both matches played. Against Keiser on Saturday morning, Mobile tallied a .267 attack percentage with 38 total kills and only 14 errors. Meanwhile, Keiser struggled against the Mobile front line, hitting just .114 in the defeat.
Senior Brinkley Hearn led all players on the offensive side with 10 kills in the match, while hitting a stellar .471 across three sets played. Kendel Lee Frazer followed Hearn's production with nine kills and a .350 hitting line, and both Layton Adams and Aleah Kennedy recorded five kills each while both hitting north of .300. Overall, Mobile Head Coach Jon Campbell saw four players hit above .300 in the victory.
Layton Adams added on to her solid offensive outing by leading Mobile with 19 assists. Tatum Beech followed with 17 assists in Jon Campbell's 6-2 offense. On the defensive side, sophomore libero Lexi Gillette ended the match with a team-high nine digs, committing just one reception error.
Match Recap: Mobile 3, Campbellsville 2
Coming off a great win against Keiser and facing a winless Campbellsville team, the edge went to Mobile's side on Saturday afternoon despite Campbellsville receiving votes for entry in the NAIA Top 25 during the preseason. The Tigers of Campbellsville managed to come out and score a 25-22 set one victory to quiet Mobile out of the gate, but the Rams responded with a 25-20 win in the second set. In the third, Mobile's confidence rolled on with another 25-20 set win in the third. However, the Tigers kept the match alive in the fourth set with a strong 25-14 win and forced a deciding fifth set.
Mobile hoped history would not repeat itself just 24 hours later after the Rams fell in five sets to Ave Maria University (Fla.) on Friday. Despite a close set, it was Mobile who came out on top in the fifth set with a 16-14 victory, earning the match win and second win on the day.
Similar to the first match played against Keiser on Saturday, Mobile's offense hit well, recording a .245 hitting line against Campbellsville. Junior Kendel Lee Frazer led the Rams' offense with 16 kills, a new career-high one day after recording a career-high 15 kills against Ave Maria. Corrina Porch-Maxey followed Frazer with 14 kills and came up with a clutch block to end the match. Meanwhile, Brinkley Hearn ended the afternoon with 11 kills in the win and Jordan Wood led Mobile with a .375 hitting percentage, while picking up seven kills.
Layton Adams continues to lead the Rams in assists, tallying 31 against the Tigers. Defensively, Lexi Gillette came away with a match-high 19 digs.
Weekend Rundown
Following four matches played during the first weekend of the 2023 season, Corrina Porch-Maxey leads the way offensively for Mobile with 49 total kills on a .227 hitting percentage. Porch-Maxey is followed closely by Kendel Lee Frazer with 47 kills, with both players averaging right at three kills per set. Layton Adams finished the weekend just seven assists shy of hitting the century mark in assists, averaging just under six assists per set. On the defensive side, Lexi Gillette leads Mobile with 54 digs and Aleah Kennedy notched a team-high 16 blocks.
"We got off to a slow start on Friday," said head coach Jon Campbell following two losses to open the year. "The team did a lot of good things, but were not consistent." Consistency proved to be key on Saturday as Campbell's team responded with two wins. "I saw a lot of improvement today [in] beating Keiser and Campbellsville," Campbell said. "We had some great individual performances out of many of the players."
As a team, Mobile is averaging 12.3 kills per set on a .215 hitting mark, 11.06 assists per set, and 14.4 digs per set. Additionally, the Rams have recorded 29 service aces, led by Corrina Porch-Maxey with 15.
Set for First Home Matches of 2023
Mobile returns to action next week, hosting the 2023 Mobile Invitational Volleyball Tournament in H. Austill Pharr Gymnasium beginning on Thursday, Aug. 24. The Rams will open the tournament against Webber International University (Fla.) for the first home match of 2023 at 7:00 p.m. CT. The following day, the Rams will play two matches, while concluding the tournament with one match on Saturday.
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About the University of Mobile
The University of Mobile is a Christ-centered liberal arts and sciences institution with a vision of higher education for a higher purpose, founded to honor God by equipping students for their future professions through rigorous academic preparation and spiritual transformation. Core values are: Christ-Centered, Academically-Focused, Student-Devoted and Distinctively-Driven. The university offers on-campus and online bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in over 75 academic programs. Founded in 1961, the University of Mobile is affiliated with the Alabama Baptist State Convention and is located 10 miles north of Mobile, Alabama on a campus of over 880 acres.
For information about the University of Mobile, areas of study, admissions and more, visit umobile.edu, connect with UM on social media @univofmobile, or call Enrollment Services at 1.800.WIN.RAMS or 251.442.2222.
