The Lee volleyball team continued to build on a record for most wins in a season in the NCAA era by posting a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-23) victory over Shorter University inside Walker Arena on Saturday afternoon. The win improved the Lady Flames record to 11-6 overall and 3-2 in GSC play. The 11 victories are the most posted by a Lee volleyball team since the 2019 squad.
After coasting to the first two sets, Shorter came charging back after the Lady Flames built an 11-4 lead in the third set.
The Hawks grabbed a 22-16 lead before Coach Christa Fabre ordered a timeout. The Lady Flames battled back, but again Shorter moved up 23-21.
Lee rallied with four straight points. The final two points came with the fans on their feet and featured back-to-back aces by Macy Petty to secure what turned out to be the final-set victory.
Abby Stroh had 16 kills and a pair of aces to set the tone for the win. Freshman Carmen Perez turned in another fine performance with 10 kills and a .529 hitting mark. She also had an ace and seven digs. Allie Scurlock followed with nine slams in a .304 attack percentage while Petty had five kills.
Ashton Middleton had a double-double with 34 assists, a pair of aces and 12 digs. Kamryn Halpin followed with seven assists and 11 digs. Julia Davis added 11 digs and Clarissa Soza totaled 10 digs. All totaled, the Lee team combined for 57 digs and eight key aces. At the net, the Lady Flames were also solid with 10 blocks. Petty led the way with four and Middleton stepped up for two.
For the young Shorter team, which slipped to 3-10 and 0-5, a pair of freshmen led the way in kills. Victoria Sparks had eight and Caroline Sivills totaled five. Marsa Ocampo had 10 assists and Thro Amelia pitched in with nine. Freshman Alley Cole had five blocks and Caroline Beckmann and Mary Beth Long had four apiece. All totaled, the Hawks totaled an impressive 22 blocks.
The Lady Flames are back on the road for three conference dates beginning on Tuesday at the University of Montevallo. They will make the long trip to Mississippi College next Friday and then face West Alabama next Saturday.
Coach Christa Fabre’s thoughts:
“I’m proud of our girls. It is a challenge to beat a team in three straight sets and they were very close to taking a third set from us. Shorter is a good team with several young players, and they did a good job of adjusting and defending our hitters late in the game.
“We continually talk about how no moment is too big for us and there is no point deficit that is too great. Volleyball is a game of momentum, and it took us more points that I would have liked to get it back on our side, but our team made it happen today.
“Carmen (Perez) had a great match with 10 kills and only one error hitting over .500 for the match. Abby (Stroh) was a force that opened up opportunities for all other hitters in the third set. Ashton (Middleton) did a great job running the court, serving aggressively and defending well from the back row.
“We are ready to go on the road for another opportunity to face Montevallo this coming week.”