DUE WEST, SC - Erskine's women's volleyball team had to come back from a 0-2 deficit to beat the Warriors of Southern Wesleyan University this afternoon in Belk Arena. Even though they cannot officially compete for a championship in Conference Carolinas, the Warriors came to Belk Arena with the 2nd best record in conference play at 11-1. The Fleet defeated the Warriors 3-0 earlier this year at Southern Wesleyan. While the Crusaders would take the first two sets to end the Fleet's consecutive set winning streak, Erskine would take the last 3 sets to comeback and win the match, 3-2, in exciting fashion to extend their winning streak to 13 games.
The 1st set was very closely contested. The Fleet gained some separation at 12-8 forcing a Warriors' timeout, but out of the timeout Southern Wesleyan scored 6 unanswered points causing Coach Vahjen to call a timeout. The Warriors continued to gather momentum after the timeout and would win the set 25-20. The 1st set defeat for Erskine represented their first set lost since September 29th.
The Warriors would carry their momentum over in to the 2nd set taking an early 14-6 lead and stretching that lead to 20-12 forcing a Fleet timeout. The Fleet could not find an answer for the Southern Wesleyan attack (.700 hitting percentage in the set) and the Warriors would take the 2nd set decisively, 25-15, to take a 2-0 lead.
The Fleet would bounce back early in the 3rd set taking an 8-2 lead to halt the Warriors' momentum. A big block by
Sami Harting and
Kristen Dodge stretched Erskine's lead to 11-4 and got the Belk Arena crowd involved in the game again. The Fleet would hold a 16-10 lead later in the set to force a Warriors' timeout. Another block by Harting and
Marissa Mayfield, along with a Dodge service ace, would put the Fleet up 23-17 and they would take the 3rd set, 25-20.
The Fleet would completely seize the momentum from the Warriors, jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the 4th set when a Mayfield block compelled the Warriors to call timeout. A
Payton Duncan kill would stretch the Erskine lead to 8 at 14-6 forcing the 2nd Southern Wesleyan timeout of the set. The Fleet would continue to gain momentum and would take the 4th set 25-16 to even the match score at 2-2.
In the decisive 5th set, both teams exchanged blows and the Warriors called timeout early with the Fleet leading 7-5. The Fleet would take an 8-5 lead as the teams swtiched sides of the net. Southern Wesleyan shorten the lead and forced a Fleet timeout at 10-9 before evening the score at 11-11. The teams would trade points until an error by the Warriors gave the Fleet a 14-13 lead and their first of four match points; however, a service error by the Fleet would even the score at 14. The teams traded points to a 18-18 score before Greenough put here 25th kill of the match away to give the Fleet a 19-18 edge. On their 4th match point, Greenough's 26th kill of the afternoon would complete Fleet's comeback. They would win the 5th set, 20-18, and the match, 3-2, much to the excitement of the crowd in Belk Arena who spent most of the 4th and 5th sets on their feet.
Greenough became the focal point of the Fleet attack in the 3rd set and finished with a career and match high 26 kills in only 46 opportunities, good for a .478 hitting percentage. Dodge and Duncan each tallied double-doubles in the match. Dodge also set a career high with 61 assists and contributed 11 digs. Duncan provided 15 kills and 14 digs in the victory. Defensively,
Kendall Kirk gave the Fleet plenty of opportunities tracking down a match high 41 digs.
With the Fleet losing the first two sets, Coach Vahjen acknowlegded that it was uncharted territory for this year's team in a Conference Carolinas match. "This was the first time we have come back from down 0-2. The team showed tremendous effort and heart to comeback and accomplish a five set win", Vahjen stated.
The win keeps the Fleet a perfect 13-0 in Conference Carolinas and extends their overall winning streak to 13 games. Erskine continues its long Conference Carolinas homestand next Friday when they take on the Trojans of Mount Olive in Belk Arena. Game time is set for 7 pm.
