WINTER HAVEN, Florida - The Lee volleyball team battled a strong Flagler College team down to the wire in the first set of the South Region Crossover on Friday afternoon before falling 29-27. The Saints, based in St. Augustine, Fla, flexed their muscles in the next two sets, winning 25-16 and 25-8 and claimed the 3-0 victory and improved to 14-3 on the year. 
 
The first set saw Lee push the Flagler club to the wire before finally falling. The set was tied six times and Lady Flames fought to gain the lead on four occasions. 
 
For Lee, Macy Petty, Scottie Cook and Emma Flowers had five kills each. Reagan Bratton dished off 20 assists. Cook and Hannah Longley each had a pair of aces and Longley came up with 14 digs. 
 
The Saints were paced by the power of the Machovec sisters. Rachel and Rebekah had 10 kills apiece. Rachel also added a double-double with 14 digs. Jordan Bergin followed with seven as the winners had an attack percentage of .279. Kennedy Muff set her teammates up with 34 assists. 
 
The defeat dropped the Lady Flames to 5-13 overall. They will return to Crossover play on Saturday and will face Saint Leo at 10 a.m. and Florida Tech at 4:45. 
 
Said Coach Callie Murphy, "We love being at this tournament getting to celebrate all the GSC teams competing against teams in the Sunshine State and Flagler. It is a competitive environment that we need to be able to play top tier teams in the country, specifically our region. 
 
"Today we played the No. 1 team in the Peach Belt and held our ground in the first set. I feel we truthfully played tough on serving and swing placement at first, but the consistency started to dwindle in set two and three. Flagler remained consistent and we struggled in serve receive and defense later in the match. 
 
"I am excited to see some improvement from previous weekends in certain aspects, but we need to get to a point where it's the same team every set and we just aren't there yet. 
 
"We have two very competitive matches tomorrow against Florida Tech and Saint Leo, so it is time to refocus and put our minds to our next match!"