The Lee volleyball team opened the 2021 spring season with a Gulf South Conference split on Saturday at Walker Arena. The Lady Flames rolled to a game one victory over Shorter in straight sets (26-24, 25-22, 25-17) but fell in straight sets in the nightcap to Union (23-25, 16-25, 15-25).

The Lady Flames are 1-1 on the year but with group play set up this year Lee is 1-0 in conference play with Union being placed in the opposite group. Lee will step outside of conference play to host Bryan College on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

"I thought we played in the opening match against Shorter which is really the one we needed since that was within our group," said Lee head coach Andrea Hudson. "I liked how we started the Union match but I thought they made some adjustments that we just weren't able to answer. With the injury to Calina (Croy, starting setter) we had to throw Emma (Flowers) in there but I thought she stepped up in a tough situation and played well for us. We will look to get back to work at practice and continue to improve in a matchup with Bryan on Tuesday."

Prior to the match with Union the Lady Flames recognized their lone senior Rachel Junen in a special ceremony. Junen had five kills and seven blocks on the day. The Huntsville, Ala. native will graduate in May with a degree in Biological Sciences.

LEE 3 SU 0
Sophomore Abby Stroh led Lee with 12 kills while freshman Allie Whittinghill made the most of her collegiate debut with 11 slams on a .400 hitting percentage. Stroh powered home three aces including the final two points of the match to give the Lady Flames the victory, 25-17 in the third and final set. Hannah Upton pitched seven kills and 12 digs and Emma Flowers dished off 28 assists. Middle Blockers Rachel Junen and Scottie Cook led the defensive effort with four blocks each.

Lee outlasted the Hawks 26-24 in set one. The two clubs seesawed back and forth for much of the match with freshman Angela Dzoba coming on to seal win with an ace. The Lady Flames pulled away in set two to take a 24-19 lead before Shorter rattled off three straight points. Stroh ended the comeback attempt however with a decisive kill to give Lee a commanding 2-0 lead. Lee finished off the sweep with a 25-17 win in set three.

The Lady Flames hit at .177 for the match and limited the Hawks to just .068. 

LEE 0 UU 3
The Bulldogs improved to 5-0 on the year with wins over Shorter and the Lady Flames on Saturday afternoon.

Union and Lee battled back and forth in set one with the Bulldogs finally pulling away for a 25-23 victory. Sets two and three however belonged to solely to the Bulldogs as they hit at a sizzling .323 in set two and .417 in set three.

Stroh finished the day with 21 kills as she posted nine against Union. Whittinghill matched her with nine and added four blocks showcasing her versatility on both sides of the net. Emma Flowers had 21 assists and Mackenzie Pearson roamed the backline for 12 digs.

Meghan Delaney had a match-high 12 slams and eight digs. Haley Ramsey pitched in eight kills and six digs. Jordan Vick posted 22 assists. The Bulldogs dominated on serve with nine aces, including three by Emily Grace Calhoon and two by Delaney.