GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Lee University volleyball team opened the 2025 season with a pair of victories in the Tusculum University Invitational Tournament on Friday. The Lady Flames defeated King University 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-11) and then ran over Edinboro University (Pa.) in four sets (25-19, 22-25, 25-13, 25-22).
Lee will play one final match in the tournament on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. when they tangle with host Tusculum University. The Lady Flames will open the home season on Saturday, Sept. 13th when they entertain Emory & Henry University (10 a.m.) followed by Thomas More University (4 p.m.) in the Lee Invitational.
Lee 3, King 0
Payton Danley led the way with 12 kills out of 18 attempts for a .611 hit total. Naomi Hockless nailed five kills in six attempts (.833). She also had two service aces and four blocks. Berra Soyler set her teammates up with 16 assists and Madison Dahl added eight. Junior Esthefany Rabit joined in with five blocks and Izzy Denton contributed 10 digs.
The Tornado was led by Riley Nelson with seven kills. Faith Morse delivered three aces and also helped her club with seven digs.
Lee 3, Edinboro 1
A pair of newcomers helped lead the way in the win over the Fighting Scots. Freshman Jasmine Terry contributed 12 kills and red-shirt sophomore Jordyn Butler had seven kills and a .545 hitting percentage. Danley added seven slams and came away with seven blocks.
Dahl dished off eight assists and came up with eight digs while Soyler and freshman Sydney Sharpe had seven assists each. Hockless joined in with six blocks while Sarah Palumbo was deadly with five service aces.
Reilly Parent helped keep Edinboro in the match with 18 kills while Makayla Neelands chipped in with 11 kills. The assists leaders were Grace Petro (17) and Laney Burns (15). Klaresajane Sivas added three aces and eight digs in the losing cause.
Coach Christa Fabre's thoughts:
"This morning King was a good official start to our season with a well-rounded effort offensively. We were able to take advantage of our depth and it was great to see our team play aggressively from start to finish. Edinboro gave us a challenge in the second set and exposed some of our weaknesses. Our teams' response in the third set was impressive with a side out percentage of 71%. We had a total of 14 team blocks on the match and the momentum of those blocks carried us through the match. Our middles have been a big part of our offense and this match it was our pins that stepped up and found ways to score. A strong overall effort from the team as a whole."
