CLEVELAND, Tenn. - In a five-set battle that went down to the final call of the match, visiting Trevecca Nazarene University handed Lee University a 3-2 defeat (25-16, 19-25, 25-16, 16-25, 13-15) on Saturday afternoon inside Paul Dana Walker Arena. The tough defeat dropped the Lady Flames to 4-2 in GSC play and 8-5 overall while the Trojans claimed their fifth-straight victory and improved to 5-1, 8-8.
The Lady Flames found themselves down 14-9 in the short fifth set, and Coach Christa Fabre immediately called a timeout. Lee countered with a hard-fought comeback and cut the margin to 14-13, forcing a timeout by the Trojans.
On the final point of the match, a call went Trevecca's way, and the scoreboard read 15-13, giving the visitors the victory. However, Lee challenged the call by the officials. After a review, the call stood, and the Nashville club celebrated the win over its rival.
The Lady Flames will seek to rebound and will face another talented opponent on Tuesday (6 p.m.) when the University of Alabama in Huntsville pays a visit. The Chargers are 5-1 in league play and 13-2 overall.
It was not one of Lee's better hitting days in the loss to the Trojans. The Lady Flames entered Saturday's match with a .252 hitting mark but finished the loss with a .122 attack mark.
All totaled, Lee had 48 kills. Jordyn Butler finished with 12. Sophia Lippert had a double-double, 11 kills (.229 attack) and 12 digs. Esthefany Rabit totaled nine kills but was a force at the net with nine blocking assists. Butler also had three blocking assists. Payton Danley and Olivia Reevey had one block to go along with two blocking assists. The Lady Flames finished with two total solo blocks and 22 blocking assists.
Berra Soyler dished off 21 assists and Sydney Sharpe added 19. Avery Sample came up big in the last two sets. She finished with five service aces and led the Lady Flames with 18 digs.
Trevecca had 61 kills with four players finishing in double-figure slams. Emma Schnitzer gave Lee problems the entire five sets. She finished with 21 kills and 15 digs for a double-double. Isabella Sherrod tallied 12 kills while Kayla Bullard and Katilyn Grant had 10 kills apiece. Grant added two solo blocks and three blocking assists. Brynne Krangnes set her team up with 47 assists. Four different Trojans had double-digit digs with Lily Vanbebber digging up 25. Her team had 89 digs compared to Lee's 70.
Coach Christa Fabre's Thoughts:
"In a battle of runs in the final set we tried to come back but dug ourselves to big of a hole. We showed some grit but it too late. Trevecca won that battle today. We just need to trust going forward that our hitters can find ways to score and lead the way."
