CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Cheered on by a large whiteout crowd, the Lee University volleyball team wasted no time in posting a 3-0 (25-9, 25-21, 25-20) victory over the Auburn University Montgomery on Friday evening inside Walker Arena. The convincing win improved the surging Lady Flames to 11-7 in GSC play and 15-12 overall while AUM slipped to 2-15, 3-22.
Lee will have more important business to take care of next Friday and Saturday. They will host league-leading University of West Florida on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and turn right around and entertain Valdosta State University in a showdown on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The Lady Flames hit .365 as a team in the win over the Warhawks. Jordyn Butler led the way with 10 kills and an impressive .450 attack mark. Esthefany Rabit had eight kills in 10 attempts (.727). She also went to the net for three solo blocks and one blocking assist.
Naomi Hockless celebrated her senior night with seven kills, one solo block and one assist while Payton Danley added seven kills and Sara Palumbo delivered six kills, two service aces and came up with five digs. Berra Soyler dished off 16 assists and Sydney Sharp had 15 to go along with seven digs.
Izzy Denton joined Hockless as the other half of the senior celebration. She went to the deck for 19 digs. Denton is called the leader of the 2025 Lady Flames by Coach Christa Fabre.
Lee had 44 kills to 32 for the visitors. They recorded 38 assists to 32 for AUM and also had 40 digs to 37 for the Warhawks. Kendall McCain had 11 kills for AUM and Anyaliz Rodriquez followed with nine. Addison Vinson delivered 14 assists and seven digs joining Klara Vega in that department.
Coach Christa Fabre's thoughts:
"I'm proud of our team for coming out strong after a hard-fought win last night. Any sweep in our conference is big time. Everything we do right now needs to push us forward and towards our goal. We got to celebrate two of our seniors who have given so much to our program. It was a special night celebrating the work on and off the court. What we do is so much more than winning games and it is a beautiful thing to see how much the two of them have grown in their time here."
