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ORLANDO, Fla. – The Lee volleyball team fought off two match points and came back and defeated Saint Leo in dramatic fashion having to use all five sets (21-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-23, 16-14) to wrap up the South Region Crossover. The Lady Flames went 2-1 in the tournament.
 
In a thrilling fifth set the two teams traded runs until the Lions had match point off a kill from Ashley Quero. It would not be enough though as the Lady Flames ended the match on a 3-0 spurt. Reuter and Matthews recorded a block to tie things up at 14 all. Silvia Sartori then recorded her 22^nd kill to give the Lady Flames match point 15-14. The mighty middles then came through again as Mary Katherine Givhan and Matthews blocked the final attack of the night winning the set 16-14.
 
The Lady Flames featured a balanced attack all around as Sartori led the pack with 22 kills. Bailey Kress recorded 17, while Alex Reuter slammed down 10 of her own. Reuter led all athletes with seven blocks as the setter Hanna Matthews stopped five attacks at the net while recording 53 of the team's 58 assists. Micaela McMichen led everybody with 34 digs while Sartori recorded a double-double with 21 digs to go along with her kills.
 
The first set Saint Leo came back after falling behind early on and took a 21-18 lead off a 6-0 run. The Lions used a three-point run to put the set away, 25-21.
 
After winning set two in convincingly to tie things up the Lions responded taking control of set three at 17-9 before regaining the 2-1 match lead with a 25-18 victory.
 
After Saint Leo took the first four points of set four Lee slowly chipped away before tying it all up at 10. An 8-4 create some separation at 18-14 before Lee would hold off the charging Lions for a 25-23 win to force a final deciding set.
 
Nina Vattovaz led the Lions with 23 kills. Cassandra Kamien recorded 60 assists while Reggie Vandevender dug 28 Lee attacks.
 
Lee improves to an even 13-13 on the year, while Saint Leo falls to 12-12.
 
Coach Andrea Hudson's club will jump right back into conference play for one match to take on Alabama Huntsville on Tuesday inside Walker Arena at 7 p.m. The Lady Flames then take a quick step back out of GSC play as they take on Kentucky State on Friday at 7 p.m. in the annual Volley for the Cure match to help support the Mary Ellen Locher Foundation.
 
Lee vs. Tampa
The Lee volleyball team fell to sixth ranked Tampa 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-17, 25-19) on Saturday afternoon in the South Region Crossover.
 
Hanna Matthews recorded her second straight double-double leading the Lady Flames with 39 assists and 13 digs. Silvia Sartori paced the offense with 18 kills (.298 attacking percentage) coming one dig short of her 15^th double-double. Bailey Kress hit efficiently at a .308 clip with 13 kills on 26 attacks. Allie Koepfer recorded 11 digs to go with nine kills.
 
Tampa took set one 25-19 before a teeter-tottering second set. Lee took a commanding lead on a 7-1 run before winning the set 25-19 on a Sartori kill off a Beebe assist.
 
Sets three and four the Spartans slowly took control of before winning 25-17 and 25-19 to win the match 3-1.
 
Tampa was paced by Katie McKiel with 18 kills followed by Sorrel Houghton with 11. Sammy Mueller led all athletes with 42 assists while McKiel completed the double-double with 15 digs matched by Nicole Dominguez at 15 digs. Mueller completed a double-double with 11 digs.