SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Erskine College women's volleyball team (6-14, 4-8 CC) defeated Converse University (13-6, 9-3 CC) in five sets at Tom & Tracy Hannah Gymnasium on Friday night.

After dropping the opening set, Erskine responded by taking the next two to go in front. The Fleet were held in check in Set 4, which led to a thrilling winner-take-all Set 5. Erskine fell behind early but responded in the middle stages, using a mini 3-0 run to tie the set at 11. However, Converse followed that by winning three of the next four points, meaning the Fleet had to face two match points. Ali Angell promptly killed off both. The Fleet had to stave off two more match points shortly after but a kill from Kerri O'Shields and a block from Kimmy Stiltner tied things at 16. After an Erskine service error led to a fifth Converse match point, Erskine took the next three points behind a pair of kills from Becca Yohe in between a Meghan DeWalt kill to put the finishing touches on a resilient Fleet win.

MATCH STAT LEADERS at Converse (3-2 FINAL, 18-25, 26-24, 25-22, 14-25, 19-17)
KILLS: Becca Yohe (21)
ACES: Meghan DeWalt (2)
BLOCKS: Meghan DeWalt (3), Kimmy Stiltner (3)
ASSISTS: Meghan DeWalt (42)
DIGS: MJ Hurd (40)

THE PLAYER
On a night where neither team hit the ball that well, it was Erskine's defense that made the difference. And no one made more of an impact than libero MJ Hurd, who totaled a career-best 40 digs. Hurd also added three assists from her libero position and became just the second player in Conference Carolinas this season with 40+ digs in a match.

THE TEAM
Erskine hit .183 (54 K / 27 E / 183 A) for the match, edging Converse slightly, who posted a .174 hitting percentage. The Fleet had a slight 7 to 6 advantage in blocks but did surrender 10 aces in the match. However, Erskine won all five of Converse's match points in the fifth set before winning their first and only match point of the night to secure a massive road win.

WHAT'S NEXT? 
Erskine heads to North Carolina to take on Belmont Abbey College (8-11, 4-8 CC) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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