The Lees-McRae College Lady Bobcats volleyball team battled
Edinboro University Fighting Scots in second round play of the NCAA
Division II Atlantic Regional Friday evening.
The game was a rematch of a non conference regular season match
up back in September that went this distance with Edinboro coming
out on top three games to two. The Lady Bobcats, holding the
number seven seed, had beaten number two seed California University
(PA) and were poised for another upset victory over number three
seed Edinboro. The Fighting Scots had knocked of the Lady Bobcats
Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference rival, number six seed Mount
Olive College in first round action.
With much confidence and momentum from avenging an early season
defeat to California, the Lady Bobcats continued their winning ways
by dominating the Fighting Scots throughout the contest building
leads in each game that the feisty Edinboro squad were unable to
recover from. The Lady Bobcats swept the Fighting Scots 30-27,
30-25, 30-16. CVAC Freshman of the Year Valia Petrova (Sofia,
Bulgaria) continued her consistent play with 25 assists, 3 service
aces and 7 digs. Junior co-captain Lacie Smith (Knoxville, TN) led
all players with a match high 13 kills while also contributing 9
digs, while co-captain Bridget Thornton (Owings Mill, MD) added 6
kills and 6 digs to ensure she plays at least one more game for the
green and gold as she will graduate in May with a degree in
Business Administration. Freshman Natalie Burns (Orlando, FL)
stepped into the starting line up for the injured Olivia Luce
(Orlando, FL) playing a solid all around game as she contributed 2
kills, 4 digs, and 7 block assists. Sophomore Dani Usedom (Geneva,
IL) led the Lady Bobcats defense with a match high 12 digs.
The Lady Bobcats will now move on to the sweet sixteen and face
Lock Haven University Lady Eagles in the Atlantic Regional Final
Saturday evening at 7:00pm. The game will be played at Thomas
Fieldhouse on the campus of Lock Haven University. The Lady
Bobcats will again look to avenge an early season loss to their
opponents, a 3-0 loss September 30.
