Lees-McRae Women's Volleyball Ends Season in NCAA Regionals
Lees-McRae Women's Volleyball Ends Season in NCAA Regionals
No. 14 Bulldogs rally past
Bobcats in four sets
-courtesy of LMC Sports
Information
11/18/2011
WINGATE, N.C. --- The No. 14 and top-seeded
Wingate University women's volleyball team rallied for a four-set
win over eighth-seeded Lees-McRae College in the quarterfinal round
of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championships on Friday
night in Cuddy Arena.
Wingate (31-0) maintained its unblemished record with a 23-25,
25-19, 25-19, and 25-14 win over Lees-McRae (27-9), posting a .250
hitting percentage while limiting the Bobcats to a .102 clip on the
attack. The Bulldogs tallied 13 blocks on the night, as the Bobcats
posted 10 service aces.
Senior Megan Epperson (St. John, Ind.) posted a match-high 18
kills to finish her outstanding career as the program's all-time
leader with 1,479 smashes. The three-time all-Conference Carolinas
selection also concludes her career as the program's all-time
leader in digs (1,237), service aces (168), and points (1,808.5)
after digging out six Bulldog attacks.
Taylor Clendenin (Statesville, N.C.) chipped in nine kills, as
Jessica Singewald (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) and Lauren Fox (Garland,
Texas) each tallied six smashes. Freshman Sariah Suryadevara
(Cincinnati, Ohio) posted match-highs of 27 digs and seven service
aces, as Megan Mitchell (Minden, Nev.) nearly tallied a
double-double with 37 assists and nine digs.
Cory McGowan paced Wingate with 15 kills, as Grace Krauser and
Anna Hilton chipped in nine and seven smashes, respectively. Liz
Willis nearly tallied a double-double with 34 assists and nine
digs, as Hilton and McGowan chipped in six and four blocks,
respectively.
The Bobcats opened an early 16-13 lead in the first set,
claiming the narrow three-point margin on back-to-back kills from
Epperson and Clendenin before Wingate responded with an 8-3 run,
taking a 21-19 lead on a Willis service ace. Lees-McRae countered
with a 5-0 run, taking a 24-21 lead on back-to-back aces from
Suryadevara. Wingate answered with a pair of points to trim the
margin to 24-23 before Epperson closed out the set with an emphatic
kill to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead in the match.
Wingate responded from an early 3-1 deficit with a 6-0 run,
claiming a 7-3 lead on a Krauser kill. With the Bulldogs leading
15-10, the Bobcats went on a 4-0 spurt to cut the margin to 15-14
on a Mitchell ace. The Bulldogs countered with an 8-3 run, taking a
23-17 lead on a McGowan kill before Hilton evened the match with an
emphatic smash.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 16-9 lead in the third on
back-to-back kills from McGowan, before Wingate claimed a 22-14
lead on a Bobcat miscue. After Wingate pushed the Bobcats to set
point at 24-16 and Lees-McRae trimmed the margin to 24-19 on
back-to-back aces from Suryadevara, McGowan closed out the set with
a kill to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Wingate carried the momentum into the fourth set, opening the
frame with a 14-8 run before pushing the margin to 18-9 on a tandem
block by Hilton and Kelsey Handel. The Bulldogs then closed out the
set and the match with a 7-5 spurt, capping the frame on a solo
block by McGowan.
Lees-McRae is expected to return 10 letter-winners from this
season's Conference Carolinas regular season and tournament
championship squad, including Suryadevara, the league's Co-Freshman
of the Year.
- LMC -
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