Box score
BANNER ELK, N.C. --- Megan Epperson (St. John,
Ind.) posted a season-high 24 kills to lead the Lees-McRae College
women's volleyball team to a hard-fought 3-1 win over North
Greenville University on Wednesday evening in Conference Carolinas
play.
Lees-McRae (19-6, 14-0 CC) posted eight blocks and 57 digs on
the night, attacking at a .136 clip while limiting North Greenville
(12-14, 3-10 CC) to a .053 hitting percentage. The Bobcats also
tallied 12 service aces, while the Crusaders posted nine
blocks.
Epperson posted a match-high 24 kills, moving within nine kills
of tying former Bobcat All-American Whitney Justice's all-time
record of 1,347 smashes. Junior Megan Mitchell (Minden, Nev.) also
moved within striking distance of a career milestone, posting a
match-high 45 assists to close to within 22 helpers of the
3,000-mark for her career. Taylor Clendenin (Statesville, N.C.) and
Lauren Fox (Garland, Texas) each added nine kills, while Jessica
Singewald (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) chipped in seven smashes.
Freshman Sariah Suryadevara (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted a
match-high 17 digs, while Clendenin, Molly Corhn (Hendersonville,
N.C.), and Epperson tallied 13, 10, and nine savers, respectively.
Mitchell and Suryadevara each added a match-high five aces, while
Fox posted a team-best four blocks.
Rebakah Mayes and Lauren Seeley paced the Crusaders with nine
kills each, while Kaitlyn Pierce added six smashes. Kaitlyn Harris
chipped in a team-high 12 digs, as Mayes and Kendra Meek dug nine
and eight Bobcat attacks, respectively. Abigail Frame posted 26
assists, as Pierce recorded a match-high six blocks.
The first set proved to be a tightly contested affair, with
neither team claiming more than a two-point advantage until the
Crusaders took a 22-19 lead on back-to-back Bobcat miscues.
Lees-McRae responded with three quick points, evening the score at
22-22 on an Epperson kill before claiming a 24-23 lead on a
Mitchell service ace. After Pierce leveled the margin at 24-24 with
a kill, Epperson and Laura Thomas (Broadway, N.C.) answered with
back-to-back smashes to give the Bobcats a 26-24 first-set win.
Lees-McRae came out firing in the second set, taking an early
7-1 lead on a Mitchell ace before North Greenville responded,
launching a 14-7 run to claim a 15-14 advantage on a Bobcat miscue.
After the Bobcats took a narrow 17-16 advantage on back-to-back
kills from Epperson, North Greenville responded with a 6-0 run to
open a 22-17 lead. The Bobcats answered with a 6-2 spurt, closing
the gap to 24-23 before North Greenville closed out the set on a
Seeley kill to even the match at 1-1.
The Crusaders carried the momentum into the third set, taking an
early 6-4 lead before the Bobcats responded with a 9-4 run,
claiming a 13-10 advantage on back-to-back NGU miscues. North
Greenville fought back with a 10-1 spurt, opening a 20-14 lead on a
service ace by Frame before Lees-McRae answered with a 4-0 run of
its own, closing the gap to 20-18 on a Fox kill to force an NGU
timeout. The Bobcats completed the rally moments later, answering a
pair of Crusader points with a 7-0 run to close out the set on a
trio of kills from Epperson.
Lees-McRae rallied from an early deficit once again in the
fourth set, launching a 9-0 run midway through the frame to take a
17-10 lead on four aces from Suryadevara. The Bobcats shut the door
from there, opening a 24-13 advantage on a Clendenin smash before
closing out the set and the match on a Crusader miscue.
The Bobcats return to the court on Friday when they travel to
Greenwood, S.C. to take on Augusta State University and No. 16
Armstrong Atlantic State University on the first day of Lander
University's Crossover Tournament. Lees-McRae will take on Augusta
State at 5 p.m. before squaring off with Armstrong Atlantic at 7
p.m.
- LMC -
