Over the years, the Lee and Shorter volleyball teams have staged some outstanding battles and Thursday night's meeting was no exception. The non-conference contest took five sets before the Lady Hawks claimed the 3-2 victory.
Supported by a loud home-court crowd, Shorter came fighting from behind in the first set and captured a 25-22 win. "I thought the first set really determined the match," said Lee assistant coach Kevin Hudson. "We had a commanding lead and let it get away. Shorter is a tough place to play because of their crowd support."
The Lady Flames fought back and took the second set 25-18. Shorter rallied back and claimed the third set 25-20 and then it was Lee's turn to even the match at 2-2 with a fourth-set 25-21. The final set rocked back and forth before the Lady Hawks were able to send their fans home with a 16-14 short-set win.
The loss ended Lee's 10
-game winning streak. The Lady Flames dropped to 19-7 on the year and will return to action next Tuesday and host Faulkner University. The Lady Hawks improved to 15-5.
Marija
Zelenovic
had 19 kills to pace the Lady Flames at the net. She also had three blocks. Paula Martins followed closely with 15 kills (.500 attack percentage). Martins added seven digs and four blocks. Nicole Sumida chipped in with 12 kills, eight digs and a pair of blocks. Camil
Martinez posted a double-double with 54 assists and 10 digs.
Irene Ojukwu
went to the back line and finished with 21 digs, seven kills and three blocks. Lauren Williams garnered five kills and three blocks. Libby Peigen
came up with 13 digs and Rachel Cunningham claimed 10 digs.
Shorter was paced by Jasmine Cook, who registered 19 kills and seven digs. Anna Graham came up with 18 kills, while Leslie Welch knocked down 13 kills and also five blocks. Jordan Corder
set up her teammates with 54 assists.