Fury fall in five set thriller to San Diego
The Columbus Fury returned home Friday to battle the San Diego Mojo on in front of a lively crowd inside Nationwide Arena. The Fury fell in a five-set thriller (25-21, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23, 15-10) 3-2 collecting a disappointing fifth consecutive loss.
San Diego began the match on the front foot, jumping out to a 12-5 advantage. Columbus cut the Mojo lead to as little as three points on three separate occasions before overtaking the visitors by a 18-17 scoreline after a hit from Reagan Cooper. The Fury didn't surrender the lead for the remainder of the set and punctuctated the opening stanza with an emphatic kill from newcomer Kendall Kipp.
The former Stanford standout joined Columbus just 48 hours prior and registered 20 kills and scored a team-high 23 points in her debut.
A slow start plagued the Fury in the second set as San Diego jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the early going. Despite the slow start, the hosts clawed back into the contest to tie it 20-20 off an attacking error from the visitors. Columbus clawed the Mojo advantage to just one point but a critical attacking error from Cooper seal the Fury's fate and sent the teams into the locker room tied at 1-1 at the intermission. Kipp continued her strong performance, settling in and leading her new club with six kills in the second set.
The third set provided fireworks and sparks for those in attendance. With Columbus battling another slow start and falling behind by an 8-3 scoreline, the team battled back to within three closing the game to 10-7. The Fury closed the gap to 21-17 temporarily as a block touch was called against San Diego. The Mojo challenged the call and replay found that a block touch was incorrect and that the point would be awarded to the visitors and grow their lead to 22-17.
Fury captain Megan Courtney-Lush and head coach Ángel Pérez disputed the call claiming that San Diego's Morgan Lewis admitted to touching the ball and encouraged play to move on. Despite the apparent admission and encouragement to continue play, the video review was conducted and found against the Fury. Pérez, now angered, engaged in a verbal altercation with the official above the net earning a yellow card with it being upgraded to a red card and costing Columbus a point. Despite the lost points, the crowd inside Nationwide Arena rallied around the Fury coach and his team.
Unfortunately Columbus couldn't rally but they weren't ready to call it an evening just yet.
The Fury refused to be put away. Despite falling behind in the fourth set, the hosts rattled off four straight points in the latter moments of the fourth set to overcome a deficit and claim the lead, 25-23 on the second of seven kills from Reagan Cooper. She account for 75% of the Fury's scoring in the last four points.
Columbus enjoyed an early 8-7 lead but untimely mistakes caused the hosts to drop the set 15-10 and drop the match 3-2.
Up next
The Fury returns West to battle the Las Vegas Thrill on Wednesday, April 17th. First serve is scheduled for 10 p.m.