CLINTON, S.C.-Minus the leadership of senior captain Lauren Mason, missing action due to an injury, the Presbyterian volleyball team fell in four games to visiting High Point 31-29, 21-30, 28-30 and 22-30. The Blue Hose leave the weekend with a 15-6 overall record, while High Point moves to 13-6.
Though the loss marks the second consecutive, first time since back-to-back losses to Appalachian State and Charlotte at the beginning of the season, PC fans got a glimpse of a variety of front row players. Junior Heather Swain stepped in with 15 kills, while a host of teammates including Kelsey McKee (14), Justine Lanchester (12) and Amanda Kettles (11) accounted for 65 Blue Hose kills. Four back row players reached double-figures in digs including a new career-high of 27 by Elizabeth Heineman. Freshmen Ashley Dunlap and Carolyn Fabros added 14 and 13 digs respectively, while Amanda Davis contributed 12 to the PC cause.
Sensing the opportunity to close out the game, High Point pounced out to an early 15-7 advantage by scoring six points off four attack errors and two aces. Two kills by Swain and Sarah Parker Mounce, along with one each from Kettles and Lanchester, kept PC within striking distance at 21-16. Ashley Dunlap sandwiched a service ace between two Panther attack errors and after a Justine Lanchester kill, the gap was narrowed to just one point at 22-21. High Point's Ashley Mellott gathered two kills, and along with teammate Lindsay Raus serving, the Panthers would score seven of the final eight points for the match clinching 30-22 win.
Tied at one game each and two Kettles kills, PC took an early 10-5 lead in the third stanza. The Panthers again put together a run where they outscored Presbyterian 6-1 to tie the game at 11-11, before the front row would again provide a cushion for the Blue Hose. The game would reach a 20-20 tie, leading to five ties in the next 16 points for each team, before a 28-28 tie was broken by a kill by High Point's Ashley Mellott. An attack error on the ensuing play closed out game three at 30-28.
A carry over from the previous, the second game was back-and-forth until an eventual 8-8 tie. The Panthers scored each of the next nine points for the largest lead of the game, 17-8, which came with Kristina Taylor behind the line. PC strung together a series of kills by Swain, McKee and Kettles to draw within six, before High Point stretched the lead back to nine courtesy two service aces and three attack errors. Leading 27-19, kills by Anna Lott and Ashley Mellott closed out the nine point win.
Presbyterian opened the match sharp as they got behind the serving games of Carolyn Fabros who got two kills by Kelsey McKee in a three point stretch, and Amanda Davis' two service aces to open up a 17-10 advantage. High Point rallied with a 15-8 run that would tie the game at 25-25, eventually assuming a two-point advantage with Julie Hershkowitz holding serve. Fabros got a key kill to pull PC within one, before turning to her service game that forced an attack error and an ace. With the game tied for a fourth time in the final six points, kills by Lanchester and Sarah Parker Mounce closed out the 31-29 victory.
1 2 3 4
High Point 29 30 30 30
Presbyterian 31 21 28 22
High Point vs. Presbyterian Post-Game Notes
? Heather Swain shattered her previous career-high in kills with 15 vs. High Point. (8-at Western Carolina, 9/15/07)
? Presbyterian College now stands at 3-2 against Big South Conference competition.
? Elizabeth Heineman's 27 digs establishes a personal best which was previous 22 (vs. Campbell, 9/7/07; at UNC Wilmington 9/8/07).
