Volleyball Recap: Caroline Heard Leads a Balanced Effort to Beat Pawnee City

There's no place like home for Southern, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They walked away with a 2-0 victory over the Pawnee City Indians on Tuesday. This was a revenge game for the Raiders: when they faced off against the Indians last Monday, they had to take a 3-0 loss.

Southern never let Pawnee City on the board, but things got pretty close in the first set. The final score came out to 25-23, 25-16.

Southern's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Caroline Heard led the charge by getting four aces and one block. Heard is on a roll when it comes to aces, as she's now served two or more in each of the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was Charleigh Belding, who had three digs and two aces.

They weren't the only good servers: Southern was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 11 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least nine aces in nine consecutive matchups.

Southern has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches. That's provided a massive bump to their 7-11 record this season. As for Pawnee City, their defeat was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 5-8.

Southern wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, a 3-0 loss against Johnson County Central on the 25th. As for Pawnee City, they have also already played their next matchup, a 2-1 defeat against Sacred Heart on the 23rd.