BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – Opening their regular season on the road this evening, Central Baptist College volleyball took on the Toppers of Blue Mountain College. CBC (0-1) did not hit the ball well, posting a hitting percentage of -.050 in a 3-0 loss to BMC (7-4) by scores of 18-25, 13-25, 10-25.

Presley Hamric led the way in kills with six while Molly Murphy had eight assists and Mikayla Lawrence posted 12 digs. CBC had three service aces and six blocks, but Blue Mountain was able to post six aces and five blocks on the match.

Next up for the volleyball team is a trip to Little Rock on Thursday night for a match with Philander Smith. First serve from Mims Gymnasium is slated for 5 p.m. and you can follow the action if you like and follow @gocbcmustangs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – (Box Score) Blue Mountain men would only score 22 points in the second half against Philander Smith Thursday night, leading to a 64-55 non-conference loss.

The first half saw Philander Smith shoot 6-of-13 from three-point land, while the Toppers shot 46 percent from the field.

Brandon Williams (JR/Dyersburg, Tenn.) led Blue Mountain in the first half with 11 points, as the Toppers cut down a large 13-point lead the Panthers had at 7:40.

With 2:30 left in the first, BMC’s Jaron Masis (JR/Guapiles, Costa Rica) scored in the paint off a turnover and Williams drained a three with 1:10 left.  Luka Tejic (JR/Uzice, Serbia) dropped a bucket in the paint with 15 seconds left to make it 36-22 Philander Smith at the break.

The Toppers couldn’t put a scoring run together in the second half and would eventually shoot only 38 percent from the field.

Williams would lead Blue Mountain with 14 points, while Exavian Young (SR/Memphis, Tenn.) chipped in 12.  Luka Tejic, who posted a double-double Tuesday night in Blue Mountain, finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

Dejalin Austin led the Panthers with 19 points, followed by Evan Council and Eric Kendrick with 10 points each.

“We seemed to be hitting our stride right before the half, but we just ran out of gas in the second half,” Topper head coach Jermael Bingham said.  “The goal had a lid on it in the second half, and we just couldn’t get anything to fall.  We didn’t help ourselves either, as we missed some shots that should have been made.”

BMC (3-4) returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. as they host Rust College in Tyler Gymnasium.

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BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – (Box Score) Despite a comfortable 35-28 halftime lead for Blue Mountain, Philander Smith outlasted the Toppers here Saturday to take a 66-56 non-conference win.

The Toppers pulled ahead late in the first half on back-to-back threes by Micah Powers (SR/Holly Springs, Miss.), giving Blue Mountain a 30-25 lead at the 3:11 mark.

Powers would hit one more at the buzzer for Blue Mountain heading into the locker room for the break.

Blue Mountain stalled out in the second half, leading at one point 51-41 before going on a scoring drought that lasted almost seven-and-a-half minutes.

“We have to do a better job scoring the ball and not giving these other teams chances to get back in the game,” BMC head coach Jermael Bingham said.  “We hurt ourselves everywhere in that scoring drought.  It’s hard to execute anywhere on the floor when that happens.”

Powers would lead Blue Mountain with 14 points, including 4-of-6 from three, while Brandon Williams (JR/Dyersburg, Tenn.) added 12 points and Aleksa Vujadinovic (JR/Niksic, Montenegro) chipped in 10.

Eric Kendrick led Philander Smith with a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Dejalin Austin led in scoring for the Panthers with 16.

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BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – (Box Score) Blue Mountain’s Tracy Rice picked up her first victory as Lady Topper head coach Saturday, as she watched her team knock off Williams Baptist, 82-77.

Blue Mountain burst out of the gate in the first quarter, scorching WBU for 24 points, with Jade Wells (JR/Memphis, Tenn.) opening the scoring with an easy bucket, followed by a deuce and three-pointer from Kandice Rcks (JR/Muscle Shoals, Ala.).

BMC led 24-12 at the end of the first, then followed it up with a 42-31 lead at the break, and eventually would grab its biggest lead in the third quarter, up 20 on a three by Lindsay Hall (JR/Ingomar, Miss.).

Williams hit its stride in the fourth, cutting the Lady Topper lead to 68-64 with five minutes left in the game, but it wouldn’t be enough, as Blue Mountain would seal the game on free-throws by Jada Taylor (JR/Collierville, Tenn.), Hall and Olivia Chadwell (JR/Loretto, Tenn.).

Mackenzie Lane finished the game with 20 points to lead all scorers, followed by Chadwell with 19.  Ricks chipped in 18 and Hall had 10.

Tasia Bland led Williams Baptist with 18 points.

“I’m so proud of how our team responded after a two-week quarantine,” Rice said following the game.  “We spent a lot of time during the break working on mental toughness.  It was great to see it pay off.”

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CONWAY – Returning home for the second consecutive Tuesday, Central Baptist College volleyball hosted the Toppers of Blue Mountain College in the first meeting ever between the two institutions. CBC (4-5) only led for an extended period in the third set as Blue Mountain’s (2-1) defense prevented momentum and the Mustangs went down 3-0 by scores of 22-25, 28-30 and 26-24.

Lena Srdanov (SR/Serbia) paced the squad with 11 kills while Taylor Folsom(SO/North Little Rock, Ark.) had 33 assists and Alizea Garza (SR/Odessa, Texas) notched 25 digs. CBC had more kills than BMC, 39-33, but the Toppers outhit CBC .124-.069 and had eight blocks compared to just five for the Mustangs.

CBC won the first point of the game on a service ace from Srdanov, who had four on the night, but that’s the last lead they would have, as BMC won the next three points. The set was tied on 10 different occasions, with the Toppers never leading by more than four, and they ended the first set with a kill to go up 1-0.

In set two, the teams traded the first eight rallies before BMC won three in a row to lead 7-4. They would lead by as much as 11-7 before the Mustangs chipped away, tying the match at 16, 24, 27 and 28 before back-to-back kills gave BMC a 2-0 lead.

BMC won the first point of set three, but then CBC took a 3-1 lead and the two teams went back and forth, with neither leading by more than four. With the match tied at 24, an error and a kill ended the match and gave the Toppers the sweep.

Next up for CBC is a trip to Paragould next Tuesday for a match with Crowley’s Ridge.  First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. and you can find all the information about the match if you like Central Baptist College Athletics on Facebook and follow @gocbcmustangs on Twitter and Instagram.

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