NCWC volleyball celebrates Senior Night with 3-0 sweep of MU

Rocky Mount, NC - North Carolina Wesleyan's volleyball squad celebrated its 2008 Senior Night with a 3-0 sweep of USA South rival Methodist University on Wednesday night in Everett Gymnasium. Set scores were 29-27, 25-16, and 25-22. Prior to the match, the Bishops honored senior Sydney Bens (pictured center with teammates Brittany Insley and Kelly George). Bens went on to tally nine kills and nine digs to lead NCWC to its 14th straight win and a perfect 11-0 month of October. More importantly, the Bishops secured a second place finish in the league with its program-record 14th USA South victory. Wesleyan is currently 24-6 overall, 14-2 in conference play.

Methodist (15-14, 6-10 USAC) gave the Bishops a run for their money in the opener. The Monarchs, who turned in an impressive .325 hitting percentage in the set, actually had three game points. The Bishops, however, fought off each, and back-to-back kills by Bens and Insley led to sophomore Alyssa Balzano's service ace for a 29-27 NCWC win.

Wesleyan rode the momentum of game one to take games two and three by 25-16 and 25-22 scores, respectively. The Bishops finished with a .254 hitting percentage as a team, including 44 kills to the Monarchs' 32.

Insley led all players with a game-high 14 kills, while Bens and freshman Leslie Hassell each had nine. Hassell completed the double-double with 15 digs, as did teammate Mackenzie Tingle who notched 15 digs and 31 assists.

For the Monarchs, Jelesty Washington had 11 kills, while Jordan Grady amassed a game-high 20 digs.

Wesleyan wraps up its regular season slate on Saturday at Ferrum College's Play Day. The Bishops will take on the host Panthers at 11:00 a.m., followed by a match-up with Averett University at 1:00 p.m.