Box score
WILSON, N.C. - The Lees-McRae College women's volleyball team
won the final three sets on their way to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-23,
25-19, 36-34) win over the Barton College Lady Bulldogs in
Conference Carolinas action.
Lees-McRae improved to 10-4 overall and 5-1 in the league.
Barton slipped to 6-10 overall and 3-3 in league play.
"Barton
really stepped up to the plate today and showed a lot of
character," Lees-McRae head coach Jamie Petrik said. "In many
critical situations, they put the ball down and we didn't. However,
we did come through in the end. Any time a game goes into the 30s,
it's just a flip of the coin as to who will win."
Both
Petrik and Barton head coach Patrick Morgan commisserated
over substitutes. Both had used up all their available
substitutions in game four by the time the score reached
24-24.
"Both
teams ran out of subs, which made it very interesting," Petrik
said. "We had two 5-foot-5 setters in the front row for more than
two rotations. In fact, we had three setters in there during that
stretch, which probably helped us because there were a lot
of freaky plays."
Barton
fell behind in the fourth set, but rallied to a 17-14 lead.
Lees-McRae tied it at 19-19, then the seesaw affair continued for
32 more points. Megan Epperson (St. John, IN), Taylor
Clendenin (Statesville, NC) and Whitney Justice (Franklin, TN) had
some big kills down the stretch.
Barton
had set point five times, but Lees-McRae came up with the big play
each time. The Lady Bulldogs were also hurt by two service errors
late in the set.
Set
four was the longest set the Lady Bobcats have played since the
NCAA reduced the points in a game from 30 to 25.
Justice
finished with 15 kills, one solo block and five block assists.
Clendenin logged 14 kills and three block assists and Epperson had
15 kills. Freshman setter Megan Mitchell notched 37 assists and two
aces in three games while freshmen libero Luana Rocha recorded 21
digs and five aces.
Lees-McRae returns to action Wednesday, September 30th when
they travel to Queens.
Pictured: Taylor Clendenin
