CLEVELAND, Tenn. - After letting the first two sets slip away, the Lee University volleyball team staged its best comeback of the year in winning three straight sets and defeating visiting Trevecca Nazarene University 3-2 (23-25, 29-31, 25-16, 25-21, 15-13) in a thrilling match on Thursday evening inside Walker Arena.
The win improved Lee's record to 10-7 in GSC play and 14-12 overall while Trevecca dropped to 13-4, 19-7. The victory also gives the Lady Flames the upper hand in fourth place in the GSC standings ad they seek to move up in the final three games of the regular season.
The Lady Flames will be right back in action on Friday (6 p.m.) and will host the University of Auburn at Montgomery. It will be senior night and Izzy Denton and Naomi Hockless will be honored.
Lee watched a lead slip away in the first-set loss but were stunned in the second set when a nine-point margin was overcome by the Trojans as they posted the 31-29 win. After a break in which Coach Christa Fabre said one of her assistants had a serious conversation with the team, the Lady Flames came bouncing back and took control in the third and fourth sets. The fifth set was tied at 13 before Lee scored the final two points and came away with the huge victory.
The Lady Flames had a season high of 72 kills in the win. Four different Lee players had double-digit kills. Sophia Lippert led the way with 13 slams. Payton Danley and Jordyn Butler contributed 12 apiece. Butler came off the bench to post her best effort of the year while Sara Palumbo chipped in with 10 kills.
Freshman Sydney Sharp set her teammates up with 26 assists and Berra Soyler had 20 dish offs. Denton was the dig leader with 21, Soyler had 12 and Sharp 11. Lee had a total of 70 digs in the five sets while Trevecca came up with 63.
Blocking was another key element in the victory. Lee was credited with 13 blocks and Trevecca 12. However, the Lady Flames had 22 blocking assists. Hockless had eight blocking assists, Lippert five and Sharp four. Esthefany Rabit recorded a pair of solo blocks and three assists.
The Trojans were led by the superior play of Addison Cunnagin. She had 18 kills, four service aces, seven digs and three blocking assists. Katilyn Grant delivered 15 kills and had a .394 attack mark. She totaled two solo blocks and five blocking assists. Skias Hainline delivered 43 assists to her teammates. She also had a solo block and five assists. Lily Vanbebber was her team's dig leader with 16.
Coach Christa Fabre's Thoughts:
"Both of the first two sets we let slip away. TNU didn't necessarily earn the win, we just gave it away. That has been the story with our team. We are capable of beating the best if we take care of business on our side. This team responds to intensity and knows what they need to. We had a shift of focus and got the job done."
