CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Lee volleyball opened up the 2022 season on Friday as it squared off with North Greenville and Wingate on day one of the Queens Invitational.
In the first match of the day the Lady Flames fell, 3-0 to the Crusaders. Lee dropped the first match 25-11, 25-15 and 26-24. In the nightcap Wingate rolled to a 3-0 victory over the Lady Flames, 25-11, 25-10, 25-12.
"We had some incredibly tough matches today against some of the top talent in the country. It was great to see the places we have improved in as a team since last year pay off and other areas of weakness being shown to us as well. We have a great opportunity tomorrow to play two talented teams including the reigning National Champions (Tampa) and push to see if we can improve even more before the weekend in over," said second-year head coach Callie Tabisz.
Abby Stroh led the Lady Flames with 11 kills and 10 digs against North Greenville. Macy Petty added eight slams and Sophia Lippert tallied six. Ashton Middleton pitched in 12 assists and Clarissa Soza posted 10 assists and seven digs. Abigail Durham led the Crusaders with 13 kills and Ashlyn Connor had 30 assists.
"I thought Macy Petty did an excellent job for us on the right side in the NGU match, really playing tough and moving the ball around the court. Hitting .500 against a solid team is impressive in itself," added Tabisz.
In game two Wingate came out firing on all cylinders and never looked back in handing Lee the straight set defeat. As a team the Bulldogs hit a sizzling .457 and committed just six errors in the match. Maggie Young led a balanced attack for Wingate with eight kills and Shannon Kasprak set things in motion with 28 assists. Petty tallied four kills for Lee and Abby Stroh led the team with nine digs.
"Wingate brought their A game against us and showed us places we can improve in before conference starts up in a few weeks," noted Tabisz. "I am proud of all the underclassmen and upperclassmen keeping composure and continuing to fight regardless of the score. We would love to see that competitive drive step up in future matches, but I'm not worried. I know our preparation and our work ethic on this team will get us to where we want to go come later this year. This is only the beginning and we will rise with unity."
The Lady Flames will wrap up the opening weekend on Saturday as they battle West Virginia Wesleyan at noon and top-ranked and defending national champions, Tampa at 6 p.m.
