MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. --- The Mount Olive College women's volleyball team posted 12 service aces and a .333 hitting percentage en route to a straight set sweep of visiting Lees-McRae College in Conference Carolinas play on Friday evening.
Mount Olive (10-12, 7-5 CC) won the match by scores of 25-20, 25-16, and 25-12, recording 37 kills while holding Lees-McRae (2-22, 0-11 CC) to 23 smashes and 24 digs.
Haydn Beatty (Norman, Okla.) paced the Bobcats with nine kills, as Avalon Liscio (Naples, Fla.) added seven smashes and team-highs of six digs and two service aces. Molly Corhn (Hendersonville, N.C.) chipped in 19 assists, while Haylee Leonard (Wallburg, N.C.) tallied a match-best three block assists.
Lauren Lee led the way for Mount Olive with match-highs of 13 kills and five aces, attacking at a .435 clip, as Dezirae Mackey added six smashes on seven attempts. Nicole Karas chipped in a match-high 31 assists to go along with six digs and four aces, while Carly White posted six kills. Nicole Sparks notched a contest-best 12 digs.
The Bobcats started off strong in the first set, taking an early 6-5 lead on a Beatty ace before the Trojans responded, launching a 9-3 run to claim a 14-9 advantage following a White smash. Lees-McRae battled back, cutting the margin to 21-20 with a Liscio kill to cap an 11-7 spurt. Mount Olive countered once again with four straight points, taking a 1-0 lead in the match on a block by White and Lee.
The Trojans carried the momentum into the second, opening the frame with a 16-6 surge that was capped by a kill from Sarah Robertson. The Bobcats would answer with a 5-3 spurt, trimming the margin to 19-11 following a Corhn ace. Mount Olive responded with six of the next 11 points, closing out the set on a kill by Nicole Powell to claim a 2-0 advantage.
Mount Olive continued to dictate play in the third frame, kicking off the set with a 15-4 run which culminated in a smash from Danielle Plante. The Trojans would close out the match from there, holding off a late run by the Bobcats before capping the stanza with a Plante kill.
Lees-McRae returns to the court on Saturday when the Bobcats travel to Wilson, N.C. to take on Barton College in league play at 2 p.m.
- LMC -
