BANNER ELK, N.C. --- Senior Jariliz Cotté led both teams with 14 kills while the Lees-McRae women's volleyball team enjoyed a high-intensity sweep of Barton, 26-24, 25-19, 38-36, in Conference Carolinas play on Senior Day in Williams Gymnasium in Banner Elk, N.C.
The Bobcats (8-19, 7-9 CC) saw Laneica Williams (Conover, N.C.) and Haylee Leonard (Wallburg, N.C.) amass 11 kills each while Avalon Liscio (Naples, Fla.) had six block assists. The Bulldogs (14-12, 9-7) had four players with at least a dozen digs.
BC's Laura Peed led all players with 17 digs while LMC's Madison Martin (Goldsboro, N.C.) had 14.
In the opening frame, neither team could sustain much of a lead until kills from Rachel Cutshaw (Whitesburg, Tenn.) and Williams gave coach William Tatge's squad an 18-15 advantage.
With the Bobcats lead 23-20, BC produced a 4-0 run following a block assist and kill from Alexandra Cullens.
LMC responded with a 3-0 run of its own following a Cotté kill and a pair of Angelica Acevedo ball handling errors.
The Bulldogs held an 18-16 advantage in the second following an LMC service error, however, the Bobcats used a trio of kills from Leonard, Cotté and Allyson Schillinger (Spring Hill, Fla.) to cap off a 5-0 run.
Schillinger dished out 17 assists in the contest.
The Bobcat defense stepped up and stuffed a Mariana Kedzia attack attempt while senior Jordan Banta (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Liscio combined for the block.
Cotté cranked out a kill before a BC attack error gave the Bobcats a 2 sets to none lead.
LMC saved its most entertaining set of the season for the last set of the regular season.
The third set saw an eye-popping 28 ties and 14 lead changes.
Down 24-22, Cutshaw delivered in the clutch with a kill following a BC attack error to tie it at 24.
Both teams would attempt to grab the moment, but was unable to build a two-point lead until Leonard bashed out one of her 11 kills before Williams promptly ended the epic set with a service ace.
Sophomore Courtney Weathersbee enjoyed a double-double with 24 assists and 10 digs. Martin and Banta chipped in with two aces each.
Banta, Schillinger and Cotté were honored prior to the match.
LMC travels to Due West, S.C. Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 6:30 p.m. to battle Erskine in a CC Quarterfinal match.
- LMC -
