Lee junior Silvia Sartori goes up for the kill
In a rematch of last year's Gulf South Conference Tournament opening round the Lee volleyball team fell in a hard-fought four sets at Christian Brothers University on Friday night.
The Lady Flames and Lady Bucs split the first two sets with each side winning by a comfortable margin. CBU won the opener 25-20 with Lee bouncing back 25-19 in set two.
The final two sets were down to the wire with the Lady Bucs winning both sets by the slimmest of margins, 28-26.
Lee appeared ready to force a fifth and final set as it held a 24-22 lead in set four.
Following a Christian Brothers timeout, the Lady Bucs scored three straight points to take a 25-24 lead.
The Lady Flames responded with back-to-back kills by junior Silvia Sartori to earn their second match point of the set but Emma Lenoir stepped up for the home team and delivered a slam to tie the match. After a Lee attack error, it was Lenoir was again who stepped up for the kill to end the conference battle.
Sartori fired home a season-high 18 kills for the Lady Flames to go along with 11 digs. Sadie Johnson set up the scoring with 30 assists while serving four aces in the contest. MaKayla Beebe had three aces and 12 digs while Allie Koepfer registered a double-double with 12 slams and 14 digs.
Lenoir led the attack for the Lady Bucs with 25 kills while Alexa Henderson dished out 50 assists. Erica Maurer (13 kills) and Kapria Manning (10) joined Lenoir in double-figure points.
The loss drops the Lady Flames to 6-3 overall and 0-2 in the GSC. The win improves Christian Brothers to an even 7-7 on the season and 2-0 in league play.
Lee will make a quick turnaround to battle Union University tomorrow at 3 p.m. to wrap up a 10-game road trip to start the year. The Lady Flames will open up the home portion of the schedule on Tuesday as they welcome Auburn Montgomery to Walker Arena.