Central, S.C. – Southern Wesleyan fell to the North Greenville Crusaders on Saturday afternoon in a 3-2 final.

The Warriors posted 56 kills in the loss, with senior Paige O'Connor leading the team with 20.  Annika Jones posted 49 of the Warriors 55 assists.  Jones and Kendall Vallancourt led the team with two service aces each.  Southern Wesleyan posted 102 digs.  Katie Anderson led the team with 22.  Anderson was followed by Shelby Sheets with 21, Anna Hughey with 18 and Katlyn Von Ins with 17.  Liz Kuntz and Olivia Johnson led the team with four blocks each.

Match Vitals

Set One Final: North Greenville 25, Southern Wesleyan 22

Set Two Final: North Greenville 26, Southern Wesleyan 24

Set Three Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, North Greenville 15

Set Four Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, North Greenville 22

Set Five Final: North Greenville 16, Southern Wesleyan 14

Records: Southern Wesleyan (12-8 / CC 7-3), North Greenville (14-7 / CC 8-3)

How It Happened

Set One

Southern Wesleyan struck first, but North Greenville countered to tie the set 1-1.  Kills by Paige O'Connor and Shelby Sheets allowed the Warriors to increase their lead 8-5.  The Crusaders countered, coming within one behind the Warriors to take the game to 10-9.  Southern Wesleyan pushed ahead take their lead to 17-14 on kills by Paige O'Connor and Kendall Vallancourt and a service ace by Annika Jones.  Despite the Warriors early lead, the Crusaders came back to win the first set 25-22.

Set Two

Like set one, the Warriors struck first, but the Crusaders countered to take a 3-1 lead.  The Warriors fought back on kills by Kendall Vallancourt and Olivia Johnson to come to one behind the Crusaders and make the score 5-4.  The Warriors pushed ahead on an ace by Vallancourt and kills by Olivia Johnson to give them a 10-7 point lead over North Greenville.  Southern Wesleyan pushed ahead, taking an 18-17 point lead on kills by Liz Kuntz and Paige O'Connor.  The Warriors could not hold back the Crusaders as they won 26-24.

Set Three

The Warriors struck first, driving ahead to take a 2-0 lead on a kill by freshman Liz Kuntz and an ace by Katie Anderson.  The Crusaders took a 4-2 lead, however, an attack error by North Greenville allowed the Warriors to tie the third set 7-7.  An ace by Annika Jones and kills by Kendall Vallancourt and Olivia Johnson give the Warriors a 13-9 point lead.  Holding the Crusaders back, Southern Wesleyan scored seven more points to take a 20-13 point lead.  They went on to win the third set 25-15.

Set Four

North Greenville took the lead first in the fourth set, but Southern Wesleyan countered to score three points and take a 3-1 lead.  The Crusaders pushed the lead to 8-7, but kills by Olivia Johnson to take a 12-9 point lead.  Kills by Kendall Vallancourt, Paige O'Connor, Shelby Sheets and Olivia Johnson gave the Warriors a 25-22 point victory.

Set Five

Southern Wesleyan took the lead first in the fifth set, but a kill by Kenzie Pierce allowed the Crusaders to tie the fifth set.  Kills by Liz Kunt and Paige O'Connor allowed the Warriors to take a 5-3 point lead.  The Crusaders and the Warriors battled back-and-forth throughout the final set, exchanging the lead between teams.  North Greenville won the battle in a 16-14 final to win the match.

What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will next take on the Francis Marion Patriots at 4 p.m. today.