Erskine Women's Volleyball battled to a split at the tri-match at Wingate University on Tuesday evening.  The Fleet won a hard fought match against UNC-Pembroke, 3-2, before squaring off against #23 Wingate and falling 3-1. 

The Fleet started their match against the Braves of UNC-P with plenty of momentum. They rolled in the first two sets of the match, 25-13 and 25-12, to take a quick 2-0 lead.  Erskine seemed poised to seal the victory quickly, but with the Fleet up 17-16 in the 3rd set, the Braves rebounded to take nine of the next ten points to win the set 25-18.  UNC-P continued to build momentum in the 4th set by taking an early 7-1 lead.  The Fleet would not fully recover and the Braves would hold on for a 25-21 4th set win.  Erskine would finally bounce back in the 5th and final set by jumping out to a 4-1 lead that they would not surrender; winning the set 15-8 and the match 3-2. 

Overall, the Fleet had 63 kills to the Braves' 37.  However, the Fleet's errors (32 including 9 service errors) allowed UNC-P to get back in the match in the 3rd and 4th sets.  Kristen Dodge and Catherine McAlister led the Fleet.  Dodge dished out a game high 49 assist and contributed 16 digs while McAlister added 13 kills with a .357 hitting percentage.  Marissa Greenough and Kendall Kirk pitched in 10 kills and 23 digs respectively. 

After the one hour and fifty three minute first match, the Fleet got off to a sluggish start in their second match of the evening.  The #23 Wingate Bulldogs took advantage and claimed the first two sets 25-9 and 25-18.  In the 3rd set, the Fleet would battle the Bulldogs and end up pulling out a hard fought 25-23 win, which was the only set that Wingate would lose in the tri-match.  Although Erskine continued to battled in the 4th set, the Bulldogs were too much and pulled away late for the 25-19 and 3-1 match victory.

Sami Harting paced the Fleet with 14 kills, while Dodge and Kirk once again led the Fleet in assists (36) and digs (25) respectively.

The Fleet continue their non-conference schedule on Friday with their home opener in Belk Arena.  They will face the Saints of Flagler College at 7 pm.