FMU’s women’s volleyball team battled with Catawba College to win three of the five matches on Oct. 15 in a non-conference match.

After this win, the Lady Patriots rank 12-8 overall.

Sophomore middle blocker Iyanla Thigpen came off the bench with her left thigh wrapped up from soreness and dominated the net, achieving a career-high of 16 kills and six impressive blocks.

Thigpen played aggressively through her soreness and gave the team a lot of the momentum to keep going strong.

“Honestly, I did it for my team,” Thigpen said. “We all really wanted this win.”

Sophomore middle blocker Lily Walton was impressive throughout the entire game with five kills, two digs and five block assists.

Junior middle blocker Courtney Adur-Rahim carried the team with 29 digs. Following closely behind her was sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Hansen with 25 digs.

Hansen, sophomore setter Finn Millians and senior Natalie Vaughn had two aces apiece.

The team had an all-time season-high of 100 digs. The Lady Patriots played hard the first match but lost a close battle 27-25. Instead of giving up, Head Coach Lauren Baufield encouraged her team to keep going.

“I told the girls to keep focusing on the task ahead,” Baufield said.

The Lady Patriots did just that as they locked up on defense and broke down the Catawba offense.

Although the Lady Patriots were putting up a strong fight, Catawba didn’t give up easily and fought just as hard. When the matches came close and got tight the team persevered.

“We really rely on our teammates to keep us from getting frustrated with ourselves after we mess up,” Thigpen said.

For most of the game the Lady Patriots communicated well and used it to their advantage; however, there were times when the team didn’t communicate and it cost them some points.

“We did have our ups and downs with communicating during the game, but overall communicating is what helped us win the game,” Thigpen said.

There were several calls during the game that Baufield and her team questioned. However, the Lady Patriots were resilient and didn’t let the calls affect the way they played.

“When the ref blows the whistle for bad calls, we just keep focusing on the game and what we can control,” Walton said.

During one of the matches, sophomore outside hitter Adison Minor injured herself and had to be helped off of the court.

Overall, the Lady Patriots played well and won their third five-setter of the season.

“I was proud of the girls tonight,” Baufield said. “They played hard and strong even after losing a teammate.”

The Lady Patriots will return on Nov. 8 against Augusta University at 7 p.m.