Gaffney, S.C. – Southern Wesleyan fell to the Limestone Saints in a 3-1 final on Tuesday evening.

The Warriors posted 51 kills with Paige O'Connor lead the team with 20.  O'Connor broke her personal season kill record in first set of the match against the Saints and now has a personal best of 401 kills in a season.  Annika Jones led the team with 41 assists and Katie Anderson led with two aces.  Anderson went on to post 26.  Southern Wesleyan posted eight blocks with Kendall Vallancourt leading the team with three.

Match Vitals

Set One Final: Limestone 27, Southern Wesleyan 25

Set Two Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, Limestone 20

Set Three Final: Limestone 25, Southern Wesleyan 22

Set Four Final: Limestone 25, Southern Wesleyan 16

Records: Southern Wesleyan (15-11 / CC 9-5), Limestone (8-12 / CC 8-6)

How It Happened

Set One

Limestone struck first in the first set of the evening on a kill by Victoria Norwood.  A kill by Paige O'Connor got the Warriors started and put them to 3-1 behind the Saints.  Olivia Johnson delivered a kill to put the Warriors to 5-7 behind the Saints and then an ace by Katie Anderson allowed the Warriors to tie the first set 7-7.  Assisted blocked by Olivia Johnson and Liz Kuntz allowed the Warriors to take a 9-7 lead over the Saints.  Southern Wesleyan lengthened their lead to 14-9 on a kill by freshman Liz Kuntz.  Back-to-back kills by Paige O'Connor allowed the Warriors to take a 17-12 lead.  Kills by Kendall Vallancourt and Katie Anderson allowed the Warriors to take a 20-16 point lead in the first set of the evening.  The Saints rallied back to tie the first set 23-23.  A kill by Paige O'Connor allowed the Warriors to take a 24-23 advantage, however a kill by Rycki Ebert allowed the Saints to pull ahead 25-24.  Southern Wesleyan would not go down quietly as a kill by O'Connor allowed the Warriors to tie the set at 25-25.  The Saints pulled ahead to win set one 27-25.

Set Two

Like in set one, the Saints struck first to take a 1-0 lead over the Warriors.  A kill by senior Paige O'Connor allowed the Warriors to come to 1-2 behind Limestone and then a kill by Liz Kuntz allowed the Warriors to tie the set 2-2.  Paige O'Connor delivered a well-placed kill to give Southern Wesleyan a 3-2 advantage.  Limestone fought back to tie the set at four.  Back-to-back kills by Kendall Vallancourt gave Southern Wesleyan a 7-5 lead in the second set of the evening.  Limestone came back to lead, but a kill by Olivia Johnson allowed the Warriors to take a 9-8 lead.  Katie Anderson delivered a service ace to give the Warriors a 14-9 point advantage.  An assisted block by Kendall Vallancourt and Annika Jones allowed the Warriors to take a 19-14 point lead.  A kill by Liz Kuntz allowed the Warriors to win the second set 25-20.

Set Three

Southern Wesleyan started strong in the third set with a kill by Paige O'Connor to give them a 1-0 lead.  However, the Saints countered with a kill by Rycki Ebert to tie the set 1-1.  The Saints pulled ahead to take a 5-3 point lead in the third set, but a kill by O'Connor put the Warriors only one behind Limestone.  Limestone charged ahead, taking their lead to 9-6.  However, a kill by Annika Jones put the Warriors to 7-9 behind the Saints.  Kills by Liz Kuntz and Shelby Sheets put Southern Wesleyan to 11-12 behind Limestone.  A kill by O'Connor and an assisted block by O'Connor and Kendall Vallancourt allowed the Warriors to tie the set 13-13.  The Saints pulled ahead, but a kill by Vallancourt put the Warriors 15-18 behind Limestone.  Kills by Olivia Johnson and Shelby Sheets allowed the Warriors to gain ground and come to 19-20 behind the Saints.  However, the Saints wins set three 25-22.

Set Four

Limestone struck first to take an 8-0 lead in the fourth set of the evening before a bad set by the Saints allowed the Warriors to serve the ball.  Kills by Paige O'Connor and Kendall Vallancourt allowed the Warriors to put another point on the board to come to 3-11 behind Limestone.  A kill by Vallancourt and a service ace by O'Connor allowed the Warriors to put two more points on the board to bring the score to 5-13.  Freshman Olivia Johnson delivered a vital kill to put the Warriors to 7-14 back.  Back-to-back kills by Paige O'Connor allowed the Warriors to rally back and come to five points behind the Saints and make the score 13-18.  Despite the late rally, the Limestone Saints won the final set 25-16.

What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will complete their regular season play on November 3 as they take on the North Greenville Crusaders at 7 p.m.