CENTRAL, S.C. – Southern Wesleyan volleyball dropped their first conference match of the season on Saturday, falling to Erskine 3-1 (14-25, 25-13, 28-26, 25-18) in a battle of the last two undefeated teams in Conference Carolinas.

The Warriors (15-6, 6-1 CC) easily took care of the Flying Fleet (13-5, 9-0 CC) in the first set, jumping out to a commanding 22-9 lead after an 8-0 run broke open the match.  Jacinta Hoffpauir ended the set with kills on two of the final three points.

The roles reversed in the second set as Erskine ran away from an 11-11 tie with a 6-0 run to seize control and then finished off the set with another 7-0 run to close it out.  The Flying Fleet took 14 of the final 16 points.

Both teams went on small runs in the third as SWU battled back from trailing 22-20 to take a 23-22 lead.  Two straight from Erskine gave the Flying Fleet their first set point but a kill from Sarah Hughey kept SWU alive.  Erskine had set point again at 25-24 and 26-25 but each time the Warriors rallied, but ultimately never were able to shift the momentum in their favor.  A kill from Kristen Dodge followed by a block from Kelly Sullivan and Dodge gave the set and the momentum to the Flying Fleet.

In the fourth, the Warriors never were able to string together a run, taking back-to-back points just twice in the set.  Erskine hit .390, a match-high in the fourth with 18 kills and just two errors.  The Warriors hit .118 in the set and just .195 overall. Erskine came in at .259 for the match.

Sarah Hughey and Jacinta Hoffpauir were in double-digits with 12 and 10 kills respectively.  Hughey has now reached 10+ kills in all but three matches this season while Hoffpauir reached the mark for the seventh time, and fourth in the last five matches.  Hughey hit just .194 for the match while Hoffpauir came in at .222, a team-best.  Hughey also tallied eight total blocks while Hoffpauir chipped in with three.

Megan Widener dished out 31 assists and collected 13 digs to record her sixth double-double of the year.  She also chipped in with four block assists.  Courtney O'Brien tallied a team-best 15 digs. 

The Warriors are back in action on Friday and Saturday as they host conference foes Limestone and Converse.  Friday's first serve is set for 7 p.m.

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