The Lee volleyball team fell behind 12-10 in the fifth set but completed the comeback finishing the match on a 6-2 run capped off with a block by Mary Katherine Givhan and Hanna Matthews to defeat Montevallo 3-2 (25-20, 25-17, 16-25, 23-25, 16-14) in a key Gulf South Conference matchup.
The Lady Flames had three athletes with double-doubles. Silvia Sartori recorded 26 kills and 24 digs. Hanna Matthews had 51 assists to go with 16 digs while Bailey Kress rounded out the doubles with 13 kills and 17 digs on the night.
Alex Reuter rounded out the double digit kills with 13. MaKayla Beebe led all athletes with 47 digs in the match.
In the first set Lee created separation using a 6-0 run capped off by kills from Kress and Sartori to take a commanding 15-8 lead. A Sartori slam would wrap up set one 25-20 in favor of the Lady Flames.
Set number two looked similar as Coach Hudson's squad began to pull away taking a 17-10 lead before using a 6-1 run and a kill from Kress to end set number two 25-17.
"They are very good defensively and they cause you to beat yourself a lot of the time. Then, in the third set they showed up. You saw it, running off the court, getting every ball that they could get to. It challenges you," said head coach Andrea Hudson.
Montevallo made some adjustments and after a lengthy break to clarify the score, was declared the winner of set three 25-16.
In set four the Falcons roared back after falling behind 10-4 and ended on a 6-1 run to force a deciding fifth set.
In the deciding set Montevallo jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before taking an 8-4 lead. After the teams changed sides quickly Lee took a quick timeout. Following the break Coach Hudson's adjustments worked as the Lady Flames slowly chipped away and got to match point at 14-12.
Montevallo answered with a block by Evelina Teran and Hannah Fernandez to fight off one. Then, Brie Blume knotted things up at 14. Lee regained match point again on a Reuter kill to make the score 15-14. Collin Bowen came into serve and Givhan and Matthews gave the Lady Flames the win with a block off a Blume attack to keep Lee undefeated in five set matches on the year.
The Falcons were led by Amanda Nugent with 17 kills followed closely by Blume with 15. Harley Masoner recorded 24 assists with the second setter Savannah Roys being credited with 23. Skyler Sieber dug 28 attacks, followed by Blume with 24 digs.
"We are excited to have already punched our ticket to the GSC Tournament," said Hudson. "We need to finish strong this weekend to improve our seeding and we look forward to the challenge."
Up next, the Lady Flames travel to western Tennessee to take on Union and Christian Brothers to wrap up the regular season. Lee begins the weekend at Union on Friday at 8 p.m. before traveling to Christian Brothers on Saturday at 5:30
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