CLEVELAND, Tenn.- The Lee University women's volleyball team completed the first day of play in the Flame Invitational with a 1-1 record. The Lady Flames opened with a 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-13, 25-23) victory over Georgia College and then lost the nightcap to Eckerd College 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 15-13).
Lee will return to Paul Dana Walker Arena on Saturday and continue play in the Flame Invitational. The Lady Flames will be pitted against Arkansas Tech at 2 p.m. and then close out the tourney at 7 p.m. when they face another challenge against talented Lincoln Memorial University.
The win over Georgia College improved Lee's record to 5-0 and the defeat to Eckerd moved the mark to 5-1. Eckerd improved to 4-1 with the win and its only loss came to the No. 2-ranked team in DII, Wayne State (Neb.).
The Lady Flames lost more than a heart-breaking decision to Eckerd, one of the top players Sophia Lippert went down with a knee injury and according to Coach Christa Fabre is lost for the year.
With Lippert out of action the young Lee team continued to battle down to the wire. Carmen Perez had an outstanding contest with 17 kills and a .382 attack percentage. She also dished up three aces and had 18 digs to go along with three blocks.
Payton Danley stepped up in a big way with 12 kills and Naomi Hockless countered with 10 kills and four blocks. Berra Soyler had 30 assists and Madison Dahl set her teammates up with 19 assists. Izzy Denton had 15 digs while Julia Davis contributed seven kills and 12 digs.
In the win over Georgia College, Perez was on top of her game again with a double-double, 19 kills and 12 digs. Lippert added 13 kills and an impressive .579 hitting percentage. Soyler also had a double-double with 30 assists and 10 digs. Sara Palumbo stood out with a double-double of her own with 11 kills, 12 digs and four aces. Hockless kicked in with nine kills while Denton had three aces, eight assists and 19 digs.
Coach Christa Fabre's thoughts:
"Tonight's match was filled with adversity and this young gritty team responded to those challenges in big ways. Eckerd is a strong opponent. We gave it our best and came up short in the end.
"Through it all, I know our team has big things ahead this season."
