CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Led by the play of Sophia Lippert and Izzy Denton, the Lee University volleyball team overcame a slow start to post a 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-15) victory over visiting Union University inside Walker Arena on Tuesday evening. It was the fifth straight victory for the surging Lady Flames. They improved to 6-3 in Gulf South Conference play and 10-8 overall.
It is back on the road for Coach Christa Fabre's club. It will face league-leading University of West Florida on Friday (7 p.m.) and then make a quick trip to Valdosta State University on Saturday (1 p.m.) for another important GSC date.
The visiting Union team stunned the Lady Flames in the opener, but the Lee coaching staff made a few changes, and the adjustments turned the next sets in Lee's favor. Lippert turned in a record-setting performance with 18 kills in 26 attempts (.654 attack mark). She also registered her first double-double of the season with 10 digs.
Denton thrilled the crowd with some remarkable digs and finished with 12 overall. She also had five big service aces as the Lady Flames had 13 as a team with Sydney Sharpe contributing three aces.
Overall, Lee had 48 kills. Jordyn Butler came away with eight and Jasmine Terry finished with seven as did Brynna Sands, who played well late in the contest. Berra Soyler set her teammates up with 27 assists while Sharpe totaled 10. Esthefany Rabit stepped up at the net with five blocks. Olivia Reevey, Terry, Lippert, Sands, Butler and Naomi Hockless had two each as the Lady Flames had a season-high of 15 blocks.
Union was led by Parker Goff and Elizabeth Gilbert with 11 kills apiece. Goff also had a .348 kill percentage. Kylie Creech delivered 23 assists and Sarah-Kate Savage went to the deck for 13 digs.
Coach Christa Fabre's thoughts:
"Proud of the way our team came back after giving up the first set. We had a scrambled slow start being down several players and lacking ball control. Loved seeing Sophia step up and fill in backrow while also maintaining such a strong performance in the front row. I can't express how proud I am of her and the work that she has put in recovering from her knee injury to be where she is now. Jasmine had strong all around play and Izzy led our team with consistency, confidence, hustle plays and solid serve receive."
