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JACKSON, Tenn. - Silvia Sartori had 17 kills and 12 digs to lead the Lee volleyball team past Union University, 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Flames secured their first GSC victory of the season ,and finish a brutal 10-match road trip to start season at 7-3 overall, they are 1-2 in league play. The Bulldogs fall to 9-6 on the year and are still winless (0-3) in conference action.

In addition to the heroics of Sartori Lee was led by Bailey Kress, a leaping front line player who red-shirted last season. Kress tallied 11 kills and was a force defensively with six blocks.  Allie Koepfer  pitched in eight slams and 16 digs. The freshman from Knoxville sealed the match with a block to end the fourth set. 

Kristi Farley had 28 assists to set up the offense. As a team Lee posted .276 hitting percentage. MaKayla Beebe continued her back line dominance with 19 digs helping to limit Union to a .124 attack percentage.

Lee opened with a 25-18 set one victory. Union bounced back and clipped Lee, 25-23 in set two before the Lady Flames rattled off two straight to take the match (25-21, 25-18).

"We rebounded from yesterday's loss today and didn't give away as many points so I was proud of how we responded," said head coach Andrea Hudson. "We challenged our players to get more blocks and Bailey really stepped up today to help us get the victory."

"This morning we talked about playing for the Lord and playing for each other. Even when we were down in points we kept our composure and kept calm and were able to pull out the win today," said Kress. "I think we are a fun team to watch and we can't wait to play in front of our home crowd."

Christa Karns had 11 kills to lead the Bulldogs while Bree Carlton delivered up 33 assists.

Coach Hudson, now in her 27th year as leader of the Lee volleyball squad is now just two wins away from the 800-win milestone. The Lady Flames will play at home for three straight matches next week giving her a shot to reach the historic mark at home.

The Lady Flames will finally open up play on the sport court in Walker Arena on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. as they welcome GSC newcomer Auburn Montgomery to town.

"I'm excited for our home crowd to finally get to see us play," noted Hudson. "We have three new players on the court who, because of a quirky early schedule, haven't even played at home yet. We get three straight matches next week at home and then go back on the road before coming back home for a couple more and we are ready."

 The Warhawks are coming off a 3-2 win over West Georgia and will bring in a 6-7, 1-2 mark this season.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early for a free t-shirt and pizza to welcome home the Lee volleyball squad.