HANOVER, Ind. -- A back-and-forth battle with Hanover resulted in a 3-2 (25-19, 11-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-10) victory for the Albion volleyball team to open the Panthers' own Invitational.

The Britons built a 17-11 lead in the first set, but the Panthers notched seven straight points to pull ahead by one. However, Albion did not back down as they slammed the door shut on the first set by notching eight of the next nine points to win, 25-19.

Albion could not find a groove in the second set, as they only led once early on during the stanza. The Britons closed the gap to within six, 17-11, but Hanover ratted off the set's final eight points, including five kills in a row, to take it 25-11.

The Britons found themselves down again in the third, as they were in a 10-5 hole after Hanover scored five consecutive points. Albion chipped away at the Panther lead, eventually tying it up at 16-16 courtesy of a block by Margaret Jones and Carly Frank.

Two more lead changes and ties occurred, but Albion took control of the set and the lead for the first time on a bad set to make it 19-18 before notching six of the final 10 points to win, 25-22.

The home team Panthers found a similar rhythm from the second set, as they found themselves up 10-4.

Albion made it interesting by tallying eight of the next 10 points to tie it up at 12-12, but they could never gain a lead as Hanover won the fourth, 25-18.

The fifth set matched the back-and-forth nature of the entire match, as there were five ties and five lead changes within the set's first 14 points as it was tied 7-7.

The Britons began to shut down the Hanover attack when they took the lead for good on a Jones block to make it 8-7. From there, they scored seven of the final nine points to take the set, 15-10, and the match.

Frank led the way for the Britons, as she notched a career-high 22 kills. It was only the second time in her career she eclipsed the 20-kill mark. Kayda Herrick also chipped in 13 kills.

Back-to-back reigning MIAA Specialist of the Week Molly Edmunds set a new career high with 48 assists and added 10 digs, while Paige Williamson recorded a season-best 32 digs.

Up Next
Albion will conclude the Hanover Invitational with a doubleheader against DePauw at 10 a.m. and Blackburn at 12 p.m. on Saturday, September 13.