WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- The Lees-McRae women's volleyball season earned a split at the first day of the Winston-Salem State Invitational with a sweep of Paine before falling in a five set thriller against Brevard in the night cap Friday at C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Lees-McRae 3, Paine 0
The Bobcats (1-1) flexed their muscles defensively while holding the Lady Lions (0-2) to a -.089 hitting clip in a three set sweep, 25-12, 25-10, 25-15.
A quartet of LMC players registered at least seven kills while Allyson Schillinger (Spring Hill, Fla.) (19) and Courtney Weathersbee (Raleigh, N.C.) (16) impressed in their first match as a Bobcat by combining for 35 assists.
Tied at six in the first set, Coach Dave Schmidlin's squad went on a 17-6 run, including a 7-0 spurt fueled by kills from a trio of Bobcats.
Sophomore Avalon Liscio (Naples, Fla.) notched one of her three kills to give LMC the first set. The Bobcats hit a match-high .389 in the opener.
Junior Jariliz Cotté (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) pestered the PC defense when she ripped off four consecutive service aces while LMC cruised to a 25-10 second set victory.
The third set was a see-saw battle while PC took a 10-8 lead.
However, freshman Laneica Williams (Conover, N.C.) cranked out five kills during a 15-4 run while the Bobcats held the Lady Lions to a dismal -.176 clip.
Brevard 3, Lees-McRae 2
LMC sprinted out to a 10-4 lead in the opening set thanks to a pair of Ana Rodríguez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) service aces.
The Tornados would claw back and knot it at 17 before the Bobcats used an 8-1 run to swipe the first set, 25-18.
Down most of the second set, LMC mustered a 13-5 run to overcome a five-point deficit (17-12) and used the arm of junior Jordan Banta (Virginia Beach, Va.) to claim the second set, 25-22.
BC used a trio of Hannah Elmore kills to break a 15-all tie to cut the deficit to two sets-to-one.
The Tornado's took advantage of shaky Bobcat play to produce an 8-2 run to clip LMC 25-19 in the fourth.
BC completed the comeback when it jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the final set and held on for a 15-7 win.
Cotté, Banta and Liscio notched double-digit kills while Schillinger dished out 41 assists.
LMC battles Tuskegee at 11 a.m. before taking on West Virginia St. at 3:30 p.m. at C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem Saturday.
- LMC -
