It took five sets, but the never-say-die Lee volleyball team walked away from The Coliseum of the University of West Georgia with a thrilling 3-2 victory (20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-17, 15-13). It likely marked the biggest win in the career of first-year coach Christa Fabre.
The first set was tied nine times and the lead changed four times before the Wolves got the win. The second set saw the Lady Flames battle back and the set was tied six times and the lead changed three times.
Things got even more exciting in the third set as West Georgia tried to pull away from the Lady Flames in a set that had eight ties and four lead changes.
The Lady Flames were in command in claiming the fourth set when they never trailed but things got exciting again in the short set when there were six ties and a pair of lead changes. It was just a night when Lee appeared to refuse to accept anything but a victory.
Lee improved to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in GSC play. West Georgia slipped to 6-5, 0-2. The road adventures continue for the Lady Flames on Saturday at 1 p.m. as they move onto Valdosta State to face another GSC challenge against a Blazer team that is 9-4 and 2-0.
The victory saw several Lady Flames step forward. Senior Allie Scurlock tallied a pair of key points in the second set that they Lady Flames won 25-23. She finished the evening with 15 kills. Graduate assistant Abby Stroh added 14 kills, 19 digs and two service aces. Junior Julia Davis had eight kills and freshman Carmen Perez totaled seven kills and two aces.
Senior Macy Petty continued her fine play by delivering five key service aces, five blocks and five kills. All totaled, Lee had 13 aces while the Wolves had only three. Naomi Hockless delivered five kills and three blocks while Ashton Middleton set her teammates up with 42 key assists and committed just two errors. She also had 12 digs. Kamryn Halpin was the dig leader with 23.
Zoe LaBreche helped push West Georgia into a five-set match with 17 kills. However, the Lady Flames were able to contain the rest of the Wolves and held them to a .181 attack mark. Taylor Allen joined LaBreche at the net with 10 key blocks while Kelli Kaiser had 26 digs.
Coach Christa Fabre’s thoughts:
“I’m so proud of the way our team played tonight. West Georgia’s middles are great blockers and they run a different defense than we typically see for the outsiders, so it took our offense a minute to find ways to score.
“Ashton (Middleton) did a great job of running our offense and creating openings for our hitters. Kam (ryn) had such a great match all round with 23 digs and solid serve receives. Abby (Stroh) was strong and consistent all the way around with 19 digs defensively and 14 kills to add to our defense.
“I love seeing our team come together and perform their roles well. They played fearless in adversity and handled difficult situations with composure and confidence. Also, I’m proud of Carmen (Perez). She struggled in the first set and had three errors but when she got another opportunity, she played clean, not making another error and scored the match-winning point.”