Lady Eagles Fall in Five-Set Heartbreaker to Itawamba

An MCC Eagles player powers a spike toward the Itawamba side of the net with an Itawamba defender reaching up to block, while Eagles teammates call out from the back row. The match is played before a crowd in the Eagles home arena.
An MCC Eagles player powers a spike toward the Itawamba side of the net with an Itawamba defender reaching up to block, while Eagles teammates call out from the back row. The match is played before a crowd in the Eagles home arena.
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September 12, 2025

MERIDIAN, Miss. – The Meridian Community College women's volleyball team nearly captured its first conference win of the season Friday night but came up just short, falling 3-2 to Itawamba in a hard-fought battle inside Graham Gymnasium.

The opening sets set the tone for the night with both teams locked in tight battles. Meridian and Itawamba were tied at 20 in the first before the Lady Eagles pulled away late for a 26-24 victory. The second set followed the same script, tied at 19 before MCC edged out another close win, 25-23, to take a 2-0 match lead.

In the third set, Itawamba jumped out to a 5-1 advantage and later stretched the lead to 22-15 before holding off an MCC rally to win 25-21. The momentum carried into the fourth frame as Itawamba built a 10-6 edge and extended it to 16-8 before closing out a 25-15 win to even the match.

The deciding fifth set was another back-and-forth battle, with the teams tied at 12 before Itawamba scored the final points to take it 15-12 and complete the comeback.

"Our team showed real promise tonight," Schimelpfening said. "Matches like this are tough, but they also give us a chance to learn and get better. I'm proud of how hard we competed."

The Lady Eagles will travel to Perkinston on Monday to continue conference play against Mississippi Gulf Coast. First serve is set for 6 pm.