The number seven seed Lees-McRae College Lady Bobcats Cinderella
run at the NCAA Atlantic Regional came to a halt Saturday evening
as the Lady Bobcats lost a four set match (32-30, 30-26, 23-30,
30-19) to number one seed, Lock Haven University Lady Eagles.
The Lady Eagles, who also hosted the event on their home court,
now advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
The Lady Bobcats played consistently throughout the match as
neither team built any scoring runs. The Bobcats held a 30-29
advantage in game one only to have the Lady Eagles pull out a gutsy
32-30 win. Game two was also tightly contested, however the Lady
Eagles would take a 2-0 lead and be one win away from making
history as the first team to win three consecutive Atlantic
Regionals.
Game three found the Lady Bobcats in some familiar territory.
Down 0-2 to number two seed California (PA) in the first round, the
Lady Bobcats stormed back to avenge an early season loss and take
the match 3-2. Lees-McRae, who themselves had already made history
over the weekend advancing to the Atlantic Regional final, came out
confident in another and looked to pull off another upset as the
battled back to take game three with a 30-23 win.
The Lady Bobcats had also avenged an early season loss to
Edinboro University in second round play, upsetting the number
three seed 3-0. With home court advantage on their side, the Lady
Eagles came out flying in the fourth game and took the play to
Lees-McRae winning the match 3-1 with a 30-19 win. After knocking
off the second and third seeds in the tournament, the Lady Bobcats
were unable to turn the trick a third time, as their season came to
a close with the Lady Bobcats advancing to the sweet sixteen of the
NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in program
history.
Junior co captain Lacie Smith (Knoxville, TN) and sophomore Caty
Honey (Geneva, IL) led the Lady Bobcats with 16 and 14 kills
respectively. Freshman Valia Petrova (Sofia, Bulgaria) compiled a
match high 43 assists as well as 13 digs and 6 block assists for
the Lady Bobcats while senior Bridget Thornton (Owings Mill, MD)
and junior Amanda Huffaker (Maryville, TN) added 8 kills each.
Thornton also contributed 10 digs and 2 block assists while
Huffaker added 5 digs and 6 block assists. Sophomore Dani Usedom
(Geneva, IL) added a match high 14 kills on the defensive side of
the ball for the Lady Bobcats. At the conclusion of the game,
Smith and Huffaker were both named to the Atlantic Regional all
tournament team for their play.
