After falling to No. 1 Texas Brownsville and No. 3 Columbia (Mo.) on Friday, the Lady Flames turned in maybe their best overall outing of the season in zipping past No. 5 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-20) on Saturday afternoon in the final match of the Lee University Showcase.
Earlier in the day Brownsville turned the event into a showcase of its own by whipping Columbia, 3-0. The Scorpions did not lose a set in their three tourney appearances.
The Lady Flames completed the finishing chapter to a rugged two-week schedule in style. They stand at 7-5 overall and the five defeats have come at the hands of NAIA teams ranked 1-4 and No. 7. One would expect to see all five NAIA clubs Lee has battled over the past two weeks again when national tournament times rolls around in November.
"I was not disappointed in what I saw from our girls over the past two weeks," said coach Andrea Hudson after Saturday's win over the Eagles. "We saw what we'll be up against at tournament time and overall we handled it pretty well. We are learning from our mistakes and our girls are learning to play together. We made some adjustments and they showed today."
Hudson had known all along her team had the ability to be strong on the front-line and that was one of the formulas in the win over Embry-Riddle. Four Lady Flames had double-figure kills. Junior Irene Ojukwu and freshman Nicole Sumida were the net leaders with 13 slams each. Sumida enjoyed a .400 hitting average and Ojukwu' attack mark stood at .345 percent. Ojukwu polished off a double-double with 17 digs in an outstanding effort, while Sumida had six digs and a pair of blocks.
Paula Martins returned to top form with 10 kills (.429 attack percentage), three aces and three blocks. Marija Zelenovic had 11 spikes and 12 digs. Camil Martinez set up her teammates with 42 assists and added nine digs to her day's work. Libby Peigen helped patrol the back-line with 16 digs.
The visiting Eagles tried to counter with Jordan Holcomb, who had nine kills. Adriana Vazquez had 21 assists and nine digs, while Hannah Gray picked up 14 digs.
The Lady Flames will begin Southern States Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, hosting Brewton-Parker in a 7 p.m. start. On Friday Mobile comes to town for a 4 p.m. affair and Spring Hill College makes an appearance next Saturday at 1 p.m.
