courtesy LMC Sports InformationBANNER ELK, N.C. - Megan Epperson had ten kills and Whitney Justices added eight kills as the No. 1 seeded Lees-McRae College Lady Bobcats advanced to the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Women's Volleyball with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-22)win over the St. Andrews Presbyterian College Lady Knights Tuesday night in Williams Gymnasium.
With the win, Lees-McRae improves to 27-5 overall, while St. Andrews' season ends at 12-20. Lees-McRae will advance to host No. 5 seeded Mount Olive College Friday, at 6:30 p.m. in William Gymnasium. Mount Olive upset No. 4 seeded Anderson 3-1 to advance.
In the first set against St. Andrews, with Lees-McRae down 9-10, Justice added a kill to spark the Lady Bobcats on a 10-0 run to give them a 19-10 lead. St. Andrew's Heather Bolwerk added a kill to make it 19-11, before Luana Rocha's only kill of the match sent the Lady Bobcats on a 6-0 run to end the match 25-11.
The second set saw a similar start before added back-to-back kills to give Lees-McRae a 12-11 lead, and they extended the lead to 16-12. But, the Knights came back to tie the match on three consecutive attack errors by the Lady Bobcats to give the Knights a 17-16 lead. But, two Megan Mitchell service aces proved to be too much as Lees-McRae closed out he second set, 25-19.
In the third set, the two teams alternated points until a Justine Congdon kill gave Lees-McRae a 21-19 lead. Leah Davison pulled the Knights back with one, but Mitchell kills kept the Knights at bay. Two Epperson kills around a Lady Bobcats service error secured the set win, 25-22, and the match sweep for Lees-McRae.
Taylor Clendenin and Katie-Marie Legg added five kills apiece to go along with the efforts of Epperson and Justice for the Lady Bobcats. Mitchell passed out 29 assists, and Congdon collected 12 digs. Luana Rocha had four service aces and eight digs, and Justice had three total blocks, one solo and two block assists.
For the Knights, Jessica Himalstein led the team with nine kills and Kelly Stine and Bolwerk followed with five kills apiece. Bolwerk also led the team with 11 digs, and Courtney McDonald led the Lady Knights with two service aces.
As a team Lees-McRae had a .209 hitting percentage, 34 kills, 16 errors on 86 attempts, while St. Andrews had a .054 hitting percentage, 26 kills, 21 errors on 92 attempts.
Related Item: Box Score
