ORLANDO, Fla. – Lee University opened play in the South Region Volleyball Crossover by defeating Saint Leo University (Fla.) 3-0 in the first match on Friday and falling to Florida Southern College in the afternoon contest 3-0. The Lady Flames will play their final contest at the Game Point Events Center on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. facing Nova Southeastern University.
Game 1 - Lee 3, Saint Leo 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-23)
The Lady Flames were in charge the entire contest as they improved their record to 13-10 with the victory over the Lions. The highlight of the round was Abby Stroh reaching a milestone in her Lee career. The graduate student recorded her 1,000th kill midway of the first game. She finished the match with 10 kills, added a service ace and came up with seven digs.
Allie Scurlock enjoyed a solid effort with eight kills and a .227 attack mark. Sophia Lippert followed with six kills. Carmen Perez joined in with five slams and a .273 attack mark. Perez also had three key service aces. Macy Petty and Kamryn Halpin had two aces apiece and Petty had four out of six kill attempts. Halpin was also the dig leader with 12 while Ashton Middleton was credited with 15 assists and Clarissa Soza dished off 14.
Coach Christa Fabre's thoughts:
Abby Stroh: "It has been such a gift to coach and work with Abby and to be a part of her 1,000th kill. She is a hard worker and a special player who has given so much to our program."
"Any win at the Crossover is a great win. Our team played clean and consistent from start to finish. We put the pressure on them with our serve and offense and they were never able to get in rhythm.
"It was a well-rounded performance from our team in serve receive, offensively and defensively. There were some tight moments and it was great to see our team play freely when the score was tight."
Game 2 - Florida Southern 3, Lee 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-21)
The Mocs turned back every comeback attempt in the three games. After falling in the first game and being down in the second contest, the Lady Flames fought back and cut the Mocs lead to 10-8 and forced a timeout after a pair of service aces by Kamryn Halpin.
For the first time in all three games, Lee tied the third game at 11, but Florida Southern went on a 4-0 run to go up 15-11 and again at 22-18, forcing two timeouts by Coach Christa Fabre. In true Lady Flame fashion, her team battled back and cut the lead to 23-21, but again could never get to the top of the mountain in the 25-21 loss to a club that is 12-6 on the year. The Lady Flames fell to 13-11.
Sophia Lippert continues to get better and better as she battles back from an early season injury. The lefty led Lee with nine kills and a .250 attack mark. Abby Stroh followed with eight kills. Allie Scurlock four and Macy Petty three. Clarissa Soza had 13 assists while Kamryn Halpin and Ashton Middleton served up a pair of aces. Halpin also went to the deck for 18 digs while Carmen Perez and Middleton joined in with nine.
Lee did not have a lot of answers for the Mocs' Mackenzie Petermann who had 12 kills and 14 digs. Mary Kate Mulvaney had 15 assists and Kiersten Kraus added 14. Overall Florida Southern had a hitting percentage of .286.
Coach Christa Fabre's thoughts:
"They made it really difficult for us to score with 11 blocks to our three. They had some tough servers as well, who worked to get us out of system.
"Nova is a great team and we are looking to rest up and bring our best tomorrow."
