PBC Volleyball Daily Update - Nov. 2

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Saints Make Pirates Walk the Plank for the First Time with 3-1 Win

ST. AUGUSTINE – Emilee Taylor recorded a match-high 18 kills and hit .361 to help lead Flagler College to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-14, 22-25, 25-20) win over No. 15 (AVCA Division II Top 25) Armstrong Atlantic State University in a Peach Belt Conference women’s volleyball match Wednesday night at Flagler Gymnasium.

Flagler extended its winning streak to six matches and improved to 22-6 overall and 11-1 in the Peach Belt. The Saints are now 2-4 against Division II nationally ranked opponents. Armstrong suffered its first loss and fell to 31-1 overall and 11-1 in the conference play.

Dianna Craine added a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs. Sophie Meyer chipped in with 11 kills while Crystal Niederriter tacked on 10 kills and hit .429. Olivia Snipes tallied 54 assists, six digs and five total blocks. Rachel Stacy contributed six kills and six total blocks. Casey Gnann paced the defense with a match-high 21 digs.

The Saints hit .359 for the match with 60 kills and just 13 errors on 131 swings.

Brendyce Budd, Jessica Santaniello, and Brittany Wolf each recorded 10 kills for the Pirates. Stacey Davis collected a team-high 13 digs while Ashley Seal tallied 42 assists.

With the score tied at 4-all in the first set, Santaniello hit a service error which sparked a 5-0 run by the Saints. The lead grew to 16-10 before the Pirates started to whittle away at the deficit. An Amanda Jones kill brought Armstrong to within two (19-17), but Flagler closed the set on a 6-3 run.

A Taylor kill gave Flagler a 6-5 lead in the second set which ignited an 8-1 run en route to a 25-14 win. Armstrong was held to .059 hitting while Flagler hit .367 with 13 kills and two errors on 30 swings. Niederriter had four kills, hit .667 and added two blocks in the set for Flagler.

The third set featured nine ties and three lead changes. Neither team had a larger lead than three point until a double-block by Seal and Leia Pittman gave the Pirates set point at 24-20. An attack error by Stacy Davis and a kill by Taylor rallied the Saints to 24-22, but Seal ended the set with a kill. Armstrong hit .231 and were led by Budd’s four kills and .444 hitting percentage.

There were 10 ties and four lead changes in the fourth set, but it was a kill by Niederriter that broke a 12-all tie and Taylor followed with a kill to force an Armstrong timeout. The Saints extended the lead to 16-12 and held on to take the set 25-20.

Lady Braves Pound Patriots, 3-0

PEMBROKE – Sophomore Jennifer Grunden and freshman Chelsea Phillips used impeccable serving to close out the match with Francis Marion on Wednesday evening as the Lady Braves tallied 11 service aces en route to defeating the Patriots, 3-0, in the English E. Jones Center. The scores were 25-19, 25-22 and 25-20.

Grunden entered game three as the team was down 19-15 and produced quality serves to bring the Lady Braves to within two points at the 20-18 mark.  Phillips took over with the score tied at 20-20 and finished the game with a service ace that graced the top of the net to bring home the victory for UNCP (13-15, 5-7 PBC).

The Lady Braves saw intense action from Heather Bolwerk as she tallied a game-high 11 kills on 19 attempts to hit a .368 hitting percentage, while setter Ashlyn Rebok totaled all 36 assists for UNCP.  Rebecca Morgan proved to be a threat at the net after registering 10 kills on 24 attempts along with delivering three services aces and eight digs.

Leading the Lady Braves on defense was libero Marissa Baker with 20 digs while Phillips and Grunden added nine and seven digs, respectively. Outside hitter Hannah Hill moved positions to middle hitter and showed her versatility as she grabbed six kills on 10 attempts and a .400 hitting percentage.

Hill dispensed a monstrous block solo on the attack by Francis Marion's (10-17, 2-10) Liz Drewry before turning around and collecting a block assist with Rebok to send the Black and Gold to match point. Senior Tricia Varno grabbed two block assists for UNCP as Bolwerk and Morgan each added one.

"We played much better in spurts tonight. We didn't play a complete three set match but we came through at the right time," said UNCP head coach Jeff Billington. "We talked about getting off to a good start and we set the tone at home."

UNCP held Francis Marion to a .115 hitting percentage and a 42 percent sideout percentage, while the Lady Braves finished the match with an overall .158 hitting percentage and a 52 percent sideout percentage. The Black and Gold posted 41 kills compared to the Patriots' 28 kills.

Francis Marion was led by Amanda Mitchell with seven kills, while Nicole Bennett had 21 assists. Hallie Legg registered 12 digs for the Patriots.

Surging Pacers Win Third Straight

GREENWOOD, S.C. – The regionally 10th-ranked University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team claimed its third straight victory in a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-22) Peach Belt Conference road win over Lander at Horne Arena on Wednesday evening.

The dominating victory on Wednesday means that since the start of October the surging Pacers have now won nine of their last 12 matches. USC Aiken (15-13, 7-5 PBC) has won seven of its last eight matches.

Shannon Byers (Morristown, Minn./Faribault) led the Pacers in their win over Lander on Wednesday evening, ending the match with a match-high nine kills to go along with 16 digs. She also had two service aces.

Samantha Lukralle (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) concluded her evening with a match-high 20 digs, while Ashley Farwell (Wake Forest, N.C./Wake Forest-Rolesville) paced the USC Aiken attack in the match with 20 assists.

USC Aiken’s Endea Ellison (Orange Park, Fla./Episcopal) concluded the match with a match-high five blocks.

Magi Nottingham was the top performer for Lander in its loss with eight kills and nine digs. Madison Kubal collected 16 digs in the match.

Overall, USC Aiken concluded the match hitting .168 as a team. Lander (13-15, 3-9 PBC) hit .103 in the match as a squad. The Pacers held a 9-4 total team block advantage.