Box score
BANNER ELK, N.C. --- Megan Epperson (St. John,
Ind.) tallied 11 kills, and Megan Mitchell (Minden, Nev.) recorded
five service aces to lead the Lees-McRae College women's volleyball
team to a three-set sweep of Mount Olive College on Friday night in
Conference Carolinas play.
Lees-McRae (10-6, 8-0 CC) won the match by scores of 25-18,
25-16, and 25-19, holding the Trojans (3-12, 1-6 CC) to a -0.11
hitting percentage while recording 12 blocks. Epperson led the way
with a match-high 11 kills, marking her fourth straight contest
with at least 10 kills, while recording nine digs, four blocks (two
solo, two assists), and a .429 hitting percentage.
Whitney Justice (Connelly Springs, N.C.) tallied seven kills,
while Meme Brown (Boonville, N.C.) and Taylor Stice (Franklin,
Tenn.) recorded six (one solo, five assists) and five blocks (one
solo, four assists), respectively. Mitchell posted 30 assists and
five digs, while tallying a match-high five service aces. Dana
Oliver (Davie, Fla.) paced the Lady Bobcats with 10 digs, while
Epperson and Taylor Clendenin (Statesville, N.C.) notched nine and
eight digs, respectively.
Carly White (Ash, N.C.) paced the Trojans with eight kills as
Lauren Lee (Mount Olive, N.C.) chipped in six kills. Kailey Preece
(Vineland, Ontario) tallied 16 assists for Mount Olive, while Feliz
Ramirez (San Antonio, Texas) recorded a match-high 15 digs.
Neither team could gain a significant advantage in the early
part of the first set until, with the score at 14-12 in favor of
the Lady Bobcats, LMC launched a 5-1 spurt to take a 19-13 lead on
a kill by Stice. The Lady Bobcats then closed out the 25-18 win by
tallying three of the final four points of the frame.
Lees-McRae continued to control the flow of the match in the
second set, opening an early 11-5 lead, and extending the margin to
19-9 on a Justice kill that capped an 8-4 spurt. Mount Olive would
close the gap to 23-16 with a 7-4 run, before the Lady Bobcats
tallied the final two points of the set, including a solo block by
Stice that ended the frame and gave LMC a commanding 2-0 lead in
the match.
Mount Olive would fight back in the third set, taking an early
6-4 lead on back-to-back service aces by White, before the Lady
Bobcats went on a 5-0 run to take a 9-6 advantage on a pair of aces
by Mitchell. The Trojans would keep the margin within two points
for the next several rallies, until the Lady Bobcats launched
another 5-0 run to claim a 17-11 advantage on a solo block by
Justice.
Mount Olive would battle back once again, trimming the margin to
18-14 with a 3-1 spurt, and after the Lady Bobcats stretched the
lead to 22-14 with a 4-0 surge, launched a 5-2 run of its own to
cut the advantage to 24-19. Lees-McRae would respond, as Clendenin
recorded an emphatic kill to end the threat, and close out the
three-set sweep.
The Lady Bobcats return to the court on Saturday when they host
Barton College to continue their conference slate. The match is
scheduled for 2 p.m. in Williams Gymnasium.
- LMC -
