Wesleyan
volleyball opens up conference play
with 3-1 win
Rocky
Mount, NC
- Led by junior Sydney Bens'
(pictured) team-high 19 kills and 21
digs, the North Carolina Wesleyan
volleyball team won its USA South
opener over Meredith College by a
3-1 score on Tuesday night in
Everett Gymnasium. Game scores
were 30-25, 30-24, 28-30, and 30-26.
With the win, the Bishops climb to
7-5 on the season, 1-0 in conference
play, while the Avenging Angles fall
to 1-8 overall, 0-1 in league
action.
The Bishops
jumped out to a 1-0 match lead with
a 30-25 win in game one. Freshman
Barbara DeRatt paced Wesleyan with
four kills and two aces, while the
Bishops recorded a .300 hitting
percentage and six service aces as a
team. The Angels tallied 13 kills
but were plagued by receiving
errors.
Wesleyan raced
out to a 13-5 lead in game two
behind the strong serving of senior
Caitlin George. Five of the
Bishops’ 15 points were scored on
her service aces during that span.
A Meredith timeout allowed the team
to regroup, and the two squads
played even the rest of the game.
The initial run, however, was too
much for Meredith to overcome as the
Angels fell behind two games to none
with a 30-24 defeat.
Down 13-9 in game
three, Meredith used a 10-6 run
midway through to forge a 19-15
advantage. Although the Bishops
battled back to tie the game at
28-28, the Angels forced game four
with a 30-28 win on back-to-back
kills by Sara Elliot and Mallory
Booker.
Meredith put up a
fight in game four and led 19-17
late, but the Bishops rallied behind
the serving of Bens to forge ahead
25-19. They did not look back en
route to the 30-26 game win and 3-1
match victory.
In addition to
Bens' strong performance, Brittany
Insley chipped in 17 kills and 19
digs. George finished with a
game-high 58 assists, while adding a
season-high 10 kills. Freshmen
Alyssa Balzano and Kelly George
turned in 15 kills and 19 digs,
respectively, and Alexis Gallop
contributed 10 digs off the bench.
For Meredith,
Morgan White amassed a team-high 15
kills and 17 digs, while Laura
Sayabouth recorded 41 assists.
The Angels won the blocking battle
9-6 but had only 48 kills to
Wesleyan's 73.
The Bishops
travel to Salem College on
Wednesday. Game time is slated
for 7:00 p.m.
