After battling host Mississippi College down to the wire in the first two sets, the Lee University volleyball team seemed to run out of gas in the final set and fell 3-0 (26-24, 32-30, 25-11) in the Gulf South Conference match on Friday evening. The loss inside the A.E. Wood Coliseum dropped the Lady Flames to 2-3 in conference play and 8-9 overall. The Choctaws improved to 4-1, 6-6.
The rugged road adventures continue for Coach Christa Fabre and her Lady Flames on Tuesday when they travel south again, moving to Livingston, Ala.
and facing the University of West Alabama. Lee returns to Walker Arena on Thursday (Oct. 10) when they host old rival and new GSC member Trevecca Nazarene at 6 p.m.
Naomi Hockless tried to set the pace for the Lady Flames, enjoying a solid performance at the net. She had seven kills in nine attempts (.798 hitting percentage). Sara Palumbo also had seven kills and Carmen Perez added six kills and 11 digs. Berra Soyler dished off 22 assists while Izzy Denton added 13 digs to lead the Lady Flames in that department.
Usually a solid serving team the entire season, the Lady Flames were able to record only one ace in the entire three sets, but they had 10 service errors.
The Choctaws got a big effort from Lydia Paulette who had 18 kills, a .300 attack percentage and three aces. Mississippi College finished the match with eight total aces. Mary Grace Foster and Rhaia Davey recorded 10 kills apiece and Foster had a .528 hitting mark as the Choctaws finished with an average of .299.
Ali Wiggins led her team with 23 assists and Caylin Pixley dished off 13. The Choctaws were consistent in the dig category with 40. Samarin Kipple led the way with 11 and Londyn Bakeris went to the deck for nine.