CLEVELAND, Tenn.- The Lee University volleyball team split the final two games of the Lee Invitational on Saturday. In the first game, the Lady Flames won a five set thriller over Erskine College 3-2, then they dropped a hard fought battle against Trevecca Nazarene 3-0. Lee finished the invitational going 1-3.
Game 1: Lee 3 Erskine 2
The Lady Flames and the Fleet of Erskine College fought back and forth with neither ever leading by more than one set. Erskine won the first set 25-21 thanks to several miscues on the Lady Flames end. Lee rebounded to win set number two 25-23 thanks to several big kills from Abby Stroh.
Erskine took the third set 25-17. The Lady Flames won the fourth set 25-21 behind a strong performance from Hannah Upton. The Lady Flames then won the decisive fifth set 15-10.
"Our team fought through every point and set and I was really proud of the effort," said Head Coach Callie Tabisz. We showed the effort in finishing all the way through a match."
Stroh led the way with 16 kills and 22 digs. The Lady Flames were balanced on the attack as Macy Petty had 11 kills, Allie Whittinghill had 12, and Upton had 10.
Setter Ashton Middleton had 32 assists and Freshman Clarissa Soza added 25. Lee had 15 service errors in the win.
The match featured 20 ties and 10 lead changes with neither team leading by more than 10 points.
Game 2: Trevecca 3 Lee 0
In the first set, TNU jumped out early to take an eight point lead. The Lady Flames made it closer but the Trojans won it by six points. In set number two, both teams traded the lead before Trevecca pulled ahead by six. Lee closed the deficit but didn't have enough as they fell 25-21 in set. The Lady Flames took a lead in the third set but couldn't maintain the lead.
Petty led Lee in the second game with 10 kills in the three sets. Stroh added another six kills and seven digs. Middleton paced the offense with 18 assists while Soza had 12.
Both teams had plenty of attack errors with the Lady Flames committing 18 and the Trojans 12. Trevecca had the big advantage in hitting percentage at 34.4% to 18.0%.
"Trevecca is a really awesome team," noted Tabisz. The hitters were really aggressive and threw us off a bit. I am stil proud of the effort and it showed us some things we need to work on this week.
The Lady Flames will head back on the road next weekend and will play in the Harding Invitational in Searcy, Arkansas. Lee will open with the University of Arkansas at Monticello on Friday, September 9 at 4 PM.
