CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Senior Night will never be forgotten by Sophia Lippert, Berra Soyler, Jordyn Butler and Esthefany Rabit. All four seniors were saluted before the first serve against the University of West Alabama and then celebrated with their teammates after a thrilling, heart-throbbing five-set 3-2 victory (29-27, 25-21, 26-28, 25-19, 13-15).
The Friday evening crowd at Paul Dana Walker Arena was on its feet for the entire final set as the Lady Flames played their last regular season game of the year before entering GSC Tournament play next week in Huntsville, Ala. Winning eight of their last nine games, Lee improved to 11-7 in conference play and 16-10 overall. The Lions, one of the top teams in the GSC, dropped to 12-5, 25-6.
The battle was tied 38 times overall, 10 times in the first set and 12 times in the hotly contested third set. There was a total of 18 lead changes before the winner was finally decided in a contest that lasted almost three hours.
The Lady Flames had five different players in double-figure kills. Butler turned in another superb performance with 14 kills and six blocking assists. In fact, Lee dominated play at the net against the taller West Alabama club, coming away with four solo blocks and 26 blocking assists. The Lions had three solo blocks and six blocking assists.
Rabit joined teammate Butler in helping control net play. Rabit recorded 11 kills and a .259 attack mark. She also had a solo block and gave the fans their money worth with 10 blocking assists. She helped her club with three
service aces.
Olivia Reevey might have had the best night of all. From her middle position, she had 12 kills and a team-high .500 attack mark. She also came away with two solo blocks and three blocking assists. Payton Danley had a big night with 11 kills and a .250 hitting mark. She registered one solo block and three blocking assists. Jasmine Terry rounded out the power-hitting at the net with 10 kills and two blocking assists.
Soyler played a key role in dishing off 25 assists in 61 passes. She finished with a double-double with 11 digs. Teammate Sydney Sharpe joined in with 17 assists. Avery Sample was the Lee dig leader with 27 as the Lady Flames had a total of 76 digs compared to 71 for the losers.
The Lions posted 58 kills while Lee had 64. Klara Bobanova paced West Alabama with 17 kills and three blocking assists. Katerina Korre followed with 12 kills. Rachele Zanini had a double-double with 52 assists, 10 digs and kept her team in the contest with seven key aces. All totaled, the Lions had 15 aces. Charlotte Kerscher was her team's dig leader with 21.
