Freshman Hannah Upton delivered four straight aces and Quinne Daoust tallied 10 kills to help the Lee volleyball team complete a perfect opening day to the 2019 season with a 3-0 victory (25-19, 25-15, 29-12) over Erskine on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier in the day the Lady Flames (2-0) defeated Kentucky State (1-1) in straight sets to officially open the 2019 season.
Upton helped Lee pull away in the third set after falling behind early to the Flying Fleet. Mary Katherine Givhan and Bailey Kress added five kills apiece while Hanna Matthews delivered the pass on 27 slams.
Defensively Daoust added five blocks, leaping freshman Scottie Cook had four and Michaela McMichen posted 10 digs.
"We've been working really hard in practice and we have a great combination of freshman and veteran leaders on this team so it's been really exciting," said Daoust, a senior right side hitter from Peoria, Ariz. "We all had jitters with it being the first match of the year but we were able to work through that early on and just played loose and enjoyed ourselves."
Lee did not give up more than three kills to a single player in limiting Erskine to just .024 hitting for the match. The Lady Flames registered a .212 attack percentage with 34 kills and 13 errors on 99 attempts.
"Abby Stohr played very well and served the ball great today especially in the morning match. Hannah Upton took advantage of her opportunities and Scottie Cook who is one of the quietest kids on the team but she can leap out of the gym, she made some plays for us so we are excited about these young players," said head coach Andrea Hudson, now in her 29
th year leading the Lady Flames.
 Sierra Wolter had 10 digs for the Flying Fleet while Kayla Duncan, Madison Plyn and Rebecca Massengill tallied three kills each.
The Lady Flames will be action on Wednesday as they force a familiar foe in Spring Hill College at 7 p.m. The Badgers and Lee were once conference foes in the NAIA before Lee moved to the Gulf South Conference and Spring Hill joined the SIAC as members of the NCAA.
"Spring Hill is tough and they always present a challenge. They were talented last year and probably better this year so we need a big crowd here on Wednesday night," concluded Hudson.
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