JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Closing out their careers at Historic Swisher Gymnasium, seniors Mallory Mattingly and Natalie Wehner led the Jacksonville University volleyball team one final time as the duo recorded a double-double and matched a season-high in digs, respectively, but it wasn't enough as the Dolphins fell to Lipscomb, 3-1, Saturday evening on Senior Night.
 

Mattingly recorded her 13th double-double of the season with 16 kills and 10 digs, while Wehner matched her season-high with 33 digs to move into fourth all-time in the Dolphins' record books with 1,162 career digs.

"I'm super proud of the way we played tonight against a really good team in Lipscomb. More than anything, I'm incredibly proud of how Mal and Nat played tonight," noted head coach Evan Muys following the match.
"Nat was diffing everything around her, and Mal was taking swings that kept us in the match. Lexi [Wierzbicki] and Sydney [Bolding] were great in the middle both offensively and defensively, and all of our pins were setting great blocks for our middles to close to. Addyson [Lewis] passed and defended great this evening and both setters ran a great offense. It was a ton of fun watching the team play tonight."

Freshman standout Lexi Wierzbicki hit .476 with 10 kills (10-0-21) and joined classmate Sydney Bolding (8 kills) and junior Madison Rayam (3 kills) as the trio posted four blocks apiece.

The opening set was marred early by a hot-handed Bison squad, who hit .515 in the set for a 25-9 win. It didn't take long before Jacksonville answered with a 5-3 lead in the second, thanks in part to kills from Bolding, Mattingly, and freshman Madison Dagenhart. Though a 5-0 rally gave Lipscomb an 8-5 lead, the Dolphins chipped away to come back within two, 17-15. With the next six points, Lipscomb managed to wrestle the set away with a 25-17 win.

Facing a two-set deficit, Jacksonville showed it was not ready to give up and controlled a 7-2 run to tie the set at 11. After trading points and deadlocking the set at 17, the Dolphins took control with back-to-back kills from Wierzbicki and Mattingly, before an ace from sophomore Lindsey Grossman capped JU's lead, 20-18. As three of Jacksonville's next four points came off the hand of Bolding, the Dolphins silenced the Bisons, 25-21.

While it looked like Jacksonville would make a similar run in the fourth as it hung with Lipscomb, 15-13, a decisive four-point run gave the visitors just enough momentum to finish the set, 25-19.

Grossman finished the game with five kills, five digs, and two aces, while freshman Addyson Lewis added seven digs.

Megan Kuper led the Bisons with a double-double of 12 kills and 10 digs, while Alyssa Zwolensky notched a team-high 28 digs.

The Dolphins close out the season with a 10-21 overall record, and a 5-11 record in the ASUN.