The Lee University volleyball team opened the 2024 season with a pair of victories in the Bobcat Classic that is being hosted by Georgia College at the Centennial Center.
In Friday morning’s opener, the Lady Flames defeated Albany State University in four sets (25-22, 19-25, 25-14, 25-23). In the afternoon contest, Lee handed Young Harris College a three-set defeat (25-16, 25-18, 25-10).
The Lady Flames will return to the invitational action on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.
when they will face an old NAIA rival in Southern Wesleyan University. Lee will close out the tourney at 2 p.m. when it will go up against host Georgia College.
Game 2
After being down 11-15 in the opening game, the Lady Flames went to work and put 13 straight points on the board to take a 24-15 lead and never looked back the remainder of the entire match.
The Mountain Lions tried to battle back in the second set but the Lady Flames took care of business and the final set was no contest at Lee coasted to the 25-10 set and match victory.
It was an outstanding outing for outside hitter Sara Palumbo. She recorded a team-leading 16 kills and a .367 hitting percentage. Lefty Sophia Lippert knocked down 12 kills and had a sizzling .500 hitting mark. Naomi Hockless joined in with eight kills in the middle and also a sparkling .500 kill mark. Julia Davis added seven kills.
Berra Soyler helped her teammates by delivering 30 assists. Carmen Perez delivered four key aces and ended the match with one of her key services. She also had a game-high 14 digs. Izzy Denton joined in with 13 digs while Madison Dahl posted nine assists. All totaled, the Lady Flames had eight aces in the win and only four service errors.
Game 1
The Lady Flames opened with a four set (25-22, 19-25, 25-14, 25-23) victory over Albany State University.
Lippert had a career-high 18 kills to lead the way at the net, but she had plenty of help from a pair of newcomers. Freshman Palumbo produced a double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs while transfer sophomore Soyler did the same, setting her teammates up with 32 assists and then coming up with 10 digs.
Izzy Denny led the Lady Flames with 18 digs while Madison Dahl contributed 13 assists and Davis joined in with eight kills. Hockless added five put downs from her middle blocker position.
Albany State battled with a pair of double-doubles. Jarianis Perez came away with 10 kills and 10 digs while Natalie Onozie tallied 18 assists and 10 digs.
Coach Fabre's Thoughts:
"Today was a good start for our team and an opportunity for us to learn who we want to be this season. We had a few moments in the match vs Albany State where we were slow to control the chaos but overall, I was proud of our team for the consistency in ball control and our ability to score.
"We got such good play from Sophia (Lippert) in both matches and Sara (Palumbo) was a major contributor vs Young Harris., Our setters did a great job running the court and disturbing the ball. Our first contact was a strength all day as well.
"I'm excited for the day tomorrow and to see how our team competes against some strong opponents."