posted October 14, 2008
For the first time ever the Lee volleyball team has lost a Southern States Athletic Conference match in Walker Arena. And for the first time since joining the SSAC in 2004, the Lady Flames have been swept by a conference opponent.
Berry College, the only SSAC club to ever beat Lee in SSAC regular-season play, turned the trick for the third time over the past two years on Tuesday evening, coming from behind to claim a 3-2 cliffhanger (13-25, 25-23, 25-21, 16-25, 16-14).
The Lee effort might be best described as so close, it could smell victory. If you want to compare the conference headliner with other sporting events, it would be like a putt on the 18th-hole hitting the lip of the cup and rolling away; a field goal attempt in the final seconds hitting the upright and bouncing away; a jump shot at the buzzer that appears to be in the net, but suddenly rims and comes out.
With the thrilling match all even at 2-2 and Lee on top 14-13 in the final set, the Lady Flames watched a serve sail wide right and even the match at 14. After the Lady Vikings went up 15-14, Grace Brannon slammed the match-winning point for the visitors.
However, it was the second set that proved even more costly for coach Andrea Hudson’s squad. Lee zipped to a commanding 25-13 win in the first set and appeared to be in complete control of the second set. The Lady Flames were on top 23-19 when Berry’s Meghan Francis blocked Tina Qestel’s attack to cut the margin to 23-20. Leah Thomson took over the service duties for the Lady Vikings and the result was five straight points, including one ace, to give Berry new life and the 25-23 win.
“We made too many mistakes,” said coach Hudson after her Lady Flames dropped to 7-2 in conference play and 18-5 overall. “But, if we are going to make mistakes, this is the time to make them. We don’t even have to talk with the girls about the mistakes. They know who made them and we have plenty of time to correct them and get better.”
With the sweep, Berry now boasts a perfect conference record of 8-0. The Lady Vikings are 13-7 overall and have now won eight straight matches. “Tonight was a great volleyball match,” said coach Mika Robinson, who is in the midst of her first year at Berry. “This was high quality volleyball on display. I think it is a great indicator of the volleyball that will be on display when we host the SSAC tournament this year.”
Hudson also praised her squad. “The girls played hard together. They played with a lot of heart and that’s all you can ask. It’s always a battle to the very end with Berry. I’m glad the girls played hard, but we’ve got to fix the little things to beat them,” said Hudson.
Having an exemplary night with serve receptions was senior Christeena Bertinetti. Bertinetti received 50 serves with only two errors; this was accompanied by 12 digs, two service aces, and one assist. Questel had 12 kills, five digs, four blocks and seven serve receptions. Junior Milica Krsmanovic had 12 kills, six assists, two digs and three blocks.
Freshman Stephanie Todd had 43 total attacks and 14 of those were kills. Todd also had 16 digs and 16 service receptions. Christa Hutchison had 13 kills, one assist, four digs, five blocks, and three service receptions. Gretchen Higdon led in assists with 29 and had three kills, 15 digs, and one service reception, while Kelsey Leffew chipped in with 17 assists.
For Berry, Brannon led with 14 kills, one service ace, 10 digs and 18 service receptions. Stephanie Post had seven kills, three digs, three blocks, and 11 service receptions. Shawn Carroll had 18 digs and 22 service receptions as their back row specialist, while Francis had six kills with no errors, one dig, five blocks, and 14 service receptions.
Lee has a chance at redemption Thursday, traveling to Mount Vernon, Ga. to test Brewton-Parker College, The road action continues on Friday at Birmingham Southern. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
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