CLINTON, Miss. – When most everything was going right for host Mississippi College and very little was going right for the Lee volleyball team on Friday evening inside A.E. Wood Coliseum, the Choctaws handed the Lady Flames a three-set (25-18, 25-22, 25-19) defeat.
It was only the third time all year Lee has lost in straight sets to an opponent and marks the second time it has lost in straight sets to a GSC opponent. The defeat drops the Lady Flames to 11-8 overall and 3-4 in conference play while Mississippi College improves to 6-8 and an impressive 5-2 in the league. The Lady Flames will continue their road adventures on Saturday afternoon and face West Alabama at 2 p.m.
The winning Choctaws were paced by outside hitters Lydia Paulette and Caroline Chastang. Paulette blasted 16 kills and totaled an attack percentage of .333. Chastang had an impressive overall performance of 13 kills, five service aces and 14 digs. Ali Wiggins had 22 assists and Caylin Pixley had 11.
All totaled the Choctaws recorded nine service aces which played a key factor in the win. On the other hand, the Lady Flames had only two aces the entire three sets but committed seven service errors. On a positive note, Lee battled back in the second and third sets cutting the Mississippi College lead to 24-21 in the second set and forcing a timeout. The same was true in the third set. After being down badly, the Lady Flames came fighting back and cut the Choctaw margin to 24-21. The home standing club called a timeout and preserved the set and the victory.
Abby Stroh had eight kills and 12 digs in the Lady Flames loss. Allie Scurlock countered with seven slams and a .227 attack mark. Naomi Hockless helped the Lee cause with three kills and went to the net for four blocks. Ashton Middleton had 13 assists while Kamryn Halpin and Julia Davis added eight digs apiece.
Coach Christa Fabre's thoughts:
"It was a tough night for our team tonight. Our first contact is usually very strong, but we were aced several times and then we weren't able to consistently better the ball with our second contact to get our hitters in rhythm.
"Mississippi College is a good team, and they have some very strong outsides that we struggled to defend. It is time to get some rest and bounce back for tomorrow against West Alabama."
