ALBANY, Ga. — The Spring Hill College women's volleyball team opened Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play in dominant fashion, sweeping all four of its matches over the weekend to begin conference play 4-0 and improve to 5-7 overall.
The Badgers opened the weekend Friday with a pair of 3-0 victories, defeating Benedict 25-15, 25-17, 25-22 before sweeping Edward Waters 25-14, 25-21, 25-16. Spring Hill continued with a strong start Saturday, taking down Savannah State 25-10, 25-16, 25-19 before closing the weekend with a 25-22, 25-23, 25-23 sweep of Albany State.
Spring Hill opened the weekend with a strong offensive performance against Benedict, hitting .304 as a team with 47 kills.
Quinn Thurman and
Samaya Hennessy led the Badgers with 11 kills apiece, while
Claire Hayes added seven.
Lily Floyd recorded 18 assists and
Cassie Creech added 16, while
Ashlyn Whiteside paced the defense with 15 digs.
The Badgers followed that performance with another straight-set victory over Edward Waters. Hayes and Thurman each recorded eight kills, while Hennessy added seven. Hennessy also posted five service aces, while
Reece Varden led Spring Hill with six blocks. Floyd finished with 15 assists and Whiteside added 10 digs.
Spring Hill carried the momentum into Saturday's first match, hitting .375 as a team in the sweep of Savannah State. Hayes led all Badgers with 12 kills, followed by Hennessy with 11. Hennessy also added seven aces, while Varden recorded four blocks. Creech paced the offense with 26 assists, Floyd added nine, and Whiteside finished with nine digs.
The weekend finale against Albany State provided the closest test, but the Badgers remained unbeaten in conference play with a three-set sweep. Hennessy led Spring Hill with 15 kills, while Hayes added eight. The Badgers also held an advantage at the net, recording nine blocks to Albany State's five, led by
Bailey Bevolo with six. Floyd finished with 17 assists, while Whiteside turned in a weekend-best 18 digs.
Across the four matches, Hennessy led the Badgers with 44 kills, while Hayes added 35 and Thurman recorded 29. Whiteside totaled 52 digs, while Creech and Floyd combined for 128 assists.
With the four-match sweep, Spring Hill improves to 5-7 overall and 4-0 in SIAC play. The Badgers return to action Friday, Sept. 25, when they travel to Wilberforce, Ohio, for the SIAC West Division Cluster #1. Spring Hill will face LeMoyne-Owen College at 12:30 p.m. CST at Beacom/Lewis Gym before taking on Kentucky State at 3 p.m.
