Insley and Tingle help Battling Bishops survive Greensboro, 3-2

Rocky Mount, NC - In Tuesday night's USA South Tournament quarterfinal action, the 2nd-seeded Battling Bishop volleyball team survived a determined 7th-seeded Greensboro squad by a 3-2 score in Everett Gymnasium. Set scores were 20-25, 25-15, 25-21, 23-25, and 15-12.  Wesleyan's blocking proved to be the difference in the match as the Bishops tallied 13 team blocks on the night (4 solo, 18 assists).  Senior Brittany Insley led the way with nine blocks in the match, and fittingly, it was Insley and Mackenzie Tingle (both pictured) who ended the fifth set and match with yet another rejection.  With the win, Wesleyan moves to 21-12 on the season and advances to Friday's semifinal action at Christopher Newport.

The Pride advanced to play the Bishops with a 3-1 victory over Mary Baldwin earlier in the evening. Set scores were 23-25, 25-12, 25-12, and 25-16. GC's Karen Riffenacht turned in 16 kills and 15 digs to pace the Pride, while Carla Hill had a match-high 21 digs for the Squirrels.

Greensboro proceeded to take a 1-0 match lead versus the Bishops thanks to 14 team kills in the first set. Wesleyan got on track in the third set with a dominating 10-point victory, forcing the Pride into ten attack errors in the game.

NCWC went up 2-1 after three sets and looked to close out the match after pulling to within one point at 23-22. A key service error, however, gave the Pride game point, and GC went on to take the fourth set on a kill by Kacie Hyatt.

In the fifth set, Wesleyan raced out to 4-0 advantage only to see Greensboro battle back for a 9-7 lead.  A kill by Leslie Hassell followed by a service ace by Alyssa Balzano knotted the match at 9-9, and the Bishops managed pull away for the 15-12 set and match win.

Insley narrowly missed a triple-double with 19 kills, nine digs, and nine blocks. Hassell finished with 12 kills, and Tingle dished out 41 assists. Junior Kelly George amassed a match-high 24 digs.

Hyatt managed a team-high 15 kills with 14 digs to lead Greensboro.

Wesleyan will take on #3 Averett on Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. for a chance to play in Saturday's championship match. The Bishops and Cougars split their two regular season meetings.

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