CLEVELAND, Tenn. - In the opening contest of Gulf South Conference play, the Lee University volleyball team battled from behind in the fifth set to claim a victory over Christian Brother University inside Walker Arena on Tuesday evening.
It marked the fourth time this season the Lady Flames have played five-set contests and Tuesday's win proved to be their first five-set win. Lee and the visiting Bucs went down to the wire before the Lady Flames claimed the victory 19-25, 25-14, 24-26, 25-23, 15-13. The victory ended a five-game losing streak for Christa Fabre's team. Its overall record improved to 5-5 overall.
Lee trailed 7-4 in the final set before staging a tremendous rally and tie the contest at 13 before Jasmine Terry and Naomi Hockless scored to give the Lady Flames the thrilling 15-13 comeback win.
It was the overall play of Sara Palumbo that helped direct the never-say-die win. The sophomore finished the evening with 14 kills and an attack mark of .308. Her 12 digs gave her a double-double plus she came away with four service aces.
Jordyn Butler also turned in one of her best performances with 11 kills and six blocks while Hockless finished with nine slams, a pair of aces and five blocks. Terry came on late with seven kills and a .225 attack percentage. Berra Soyler delivered 22 assists, Sydney Sharpe added 11 and Madison Dahl contributed 10 to go along with 13 digs. Izzy Denton was the dig leader with 23 as the Lady Flames went to the deck for 82 digs overall.
Ella Schumacher had 15 kills for the Bucs and Calah Jackson delivered 14 kills and a .463 kill mark. Ava Hillyer had 22 assists and served up five aces while Carleiny Morillo added 16 assists. Sophia Nowacki was the dig leader for CBU with 17 while Osayemi Oluwaseun and Sarah Helms went high for six blocks apiece.
The Lady Flames will return to action on Friday and begin three straight GSC road games. They will face the University of Alabama in Huntsville (7 p.m.) followed by the University of Montevallo on Saturday (3 p.m.) and close out the road trip at Trevecca Nazarene University on Tuesday.
Coach Christa Fabre's Thoughts:
"Proud of our team for the body of work they put in tonight. We started the first set playing uninspired volleyball, came back in the second set with more of our veteran players to answer, struggled in the third set and found ways to overcome deficits in the fourth and fifth. We played without one of our key players and I was thankful to see others step up. Sara was such a key piece to the win, willing our team forward in the high-pressure moments. After the stretch of losses have had, this one felt big!"
