Pensacola, Fla. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) volleyball continued play at the University of West Florida (UWF) Invitational with a 3-1 win against the Lee University Flames this evening. The Badgers won the match by scores of 21-25, 25-21, 25-23, and 25-22.
The match was fairly even throughout with Lee University holding a slight edge in attack percentage and blocks while the Badgers committed fewer errors both offensively and defensively. The Flames won the first set while playing mostly with the lead. Spring Hill won sets two and three with good all-around team play to take a 2-1 advantage. It looked like Lee might regain the upper hand in set number four as they clawed out to a good lead. However, the Badgers answered the challenge and came from behind to claim the deciding fourth and final set 25-22.
Offensively, the Badgers attack produced a respectable .216 attack percentage while the Flames hit for a .266 clip. Spring Hill once again received solid front line play from multiple players.
Kassandra Fairly and
Sarah Senft each tallied 13 kills while
Taylor Hurst and
Bentley Odom each contributed 10 to the Badger attack.
Emmarose Neibert dished out 44 assists to go along with 10 digs.
Defense would again prove to be a key contributor to the Badger victory. Four Badgers reached the double digits in digs led by
Payton Gidney and
Cassidi Sterrett with 19 each while
Randi De'Armitt came up with 17. The Badger front line only produced 3 blocks, but forced Lee into 22 attack errors.
"This was a hard fought battle tonight," said Coach
Peggy Martin. "I am very proud of our kids and how they fought back after losing a tough first set and then making that comeback in set four. They out hit and out blocked us but we made fewer unforced errors and that decided the match. I thought
Sarah Senft played her best match of the year in all phases of the game."
The Badgers (4-2, 0-0 SIAC) will conclude play in Pensacola when they face Harding University on Saturday, September 8 at 10:00 a.m.
