DUE WEST, S.C – The Erskine College women's volleyball team (0-2, 0-1 CC) lost to Barton College (1-4, 1-0 CC) 26-24, 25-20, 16-25, 23-25, 9-15 in Belk Arena on Sunday.
 
THE ESSENTIALS:
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | Conf. Carolinas Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Erskine ended a six-match stretch of sweeps by the Bulldogs in the series, but have now lost seven straight against Barton. The Fleet still hold a 13-8 lead in the series.

THE MATCH
Set 1: A short 3-0 scoring run from Erskine in the early stages of the match, including a pair of kills from Reilly Bartlett, gave the Fleet an early lead. Erskine held the lead until Barton won four straight points to take a 15-12 lead. Another Barton run extended their lead to six points, but the Fleet rattled off seven consecutive points led by a pair of kills from Rebecca Massengill and Bartlett ask Erskine regained the lead at 21-20. The Bulldogs came back and led 24-23, but Erskine won Barton's set point and then won the next two points as well as a Kaile Tuisamatatele kill gave Erksine a 26-24 victory in Set 1.
 
Set 2: A Jauhna Smith kill opened Set 2 to give Erskine a 1-0 lead, which they maintained for the entirety of the set. Maddie Wilson and Massengill each tallied a pair of kills in the middle stages of the set as the Fleet pulled away in the set. Barton answered three straight Erskine points with a 3-0 scoring run of their own to cut Erskine's lead to 23-20. But, kills on the next two points by Smith and Massengill sealed a 25-20 win for Erskine in Set 2.
 
Set 3: Barton began the third set by winning six of the first eight points, and it was their turn for a wire to wire win in a set. Erskine got within two points after a Tuisamatatele kill trimmed the Bulldogs' lead to 13-11, but Barton ended the set winning seven of the last nine points and took Set 3 by a score of 25-16.

Set 4: The Bulldogs built on their momentum as they jumped out to an early 12-4 lead in the fourth set. The Fleet responded by winning six of the next seven points to get back within three points. Another Tuisamatatele kill got Erskine back within one at 19-18, but the Fleet never quite got over the hump. A Smith kill staved off Barton's first set point, but the Bulldogs won the following point to force a fifth set with a 25-23 victory.

Set 5: After slow starts in the previous two sets, Erskine began Set 5 on the right foot, taking the first three points and leading 5-2 in the early stages. But, Barton scored the next four points to take their first lead. A Katy Torgerson kill tied the set at seven apiece, but Erskine never regained the lead as Barton pulled away late for a 15-9 win, as the Bulldogs overcome a 2-0 deficit in the match and win the final three sets. 
 
THE PLAYER
In her first match of the season, Kaile Tuisamatatele had a team-high 10 kills and hit .276 on 29 total attempts. Tuisamatatele also had four of the eight Erskine blocks in the loss.
 
THE TEAM
Erskine hit .120 (50 K / 30 E / 167 TA) in the match. The Fleet had two more blocks than Barton, but the Bulldogs tallied 75 digs to Erskine's 65. 

WHAT'S NEXT? 
The Fleet are back in action at home tomorrow afternoon against the University of Mount Olive (0-1, 0-1) at 12:00 p.m. The Fleet lead the all-time series 8-4, and won the previous meeting in Due West in three sets back in December 2019.

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