BANNER ELK, NC--The Lees-McRae Lady Bobcats volleyball team
improved to 7-1 in Conference Carolinas play Friday evening,
sweeping Belmont Abbey College (30-12, 32-30, 30-22) at Williams
Gymnasium. Belmont Abbey falls to 3-15 (2-6) with the loss.
The Lady Bobcats came out flying in game one, jumping out to an
early 4-0 lead and maintaining the four goal cushion until a 5-1
run, capped by a Whitney Kiser (Connelly Springs, NC) ace gave the
home side a commanding 15-7 lead forcing an Abbey timeout. Kiser
served two more consecutive aces to stretch the lead to ten as
Lees-McRae cruised to the game one victory.
Game two proved to be completely opposite from game one, as the
visitors jumped out to the early lead, 9-3, to force the Lady
Bobcats to call timeout. While Abbey managed to roll on, holding a
comfortable lead for much of the game, the Lady Bobcats slowly but
surely clawed their way back. Down seven, 19-26, Lees-McRae made a
5-2 run to cut the deficit to three, 25-28. An Abbey time out did
nothing, as the Lady Bobcats managed to steal the win 32-30 to go
up two games.
In game three, each team capitalized on opportunities early, but
once again the experience of the nine time defending conference
champions would allow the Lady Bobcats to earn the sweep. Leading
14-8, a 7-1 run sealed the deal for the home side as they earned
their fifth win in six games.
Senior Daviana Metti (Cordoba, Argentina) led the Lady Bobcats
with 17 kills while Kiser and junior Natalie Burns (Orlando, FL)
chipped in ten and eight respectively. Sophomore Katie-Marie Legg
(Alta Loma, CA) impacted the game at the net both offensively and
defensively, registering seven kills with a .538 hitting
percentage, five block assists and one solo block. Defensively
freshman Kell Bogdan (Leawood, KS) led the way with 16 digs while
senior Dani Usedom (Geneva, IL) and freshman Tracey Copley
(Virginia Beach, VA) also registered double digit digs with 12 and
11 respectively. Sophomore Lauren Dickover handled the setting in
the match, picking up 45 assists while also contributing nine
digs.
The Lady Bobcats will be back in action at Williams Gymnasium
tomorrow afternoon when Limestone College visits for a 2:00pm
contest.
PICTURED TOP LEFT: Freshman Whitney Kiser
