Central, S.C. – Southern Wesleyan defeated the Limestone Saints in four sets in a 3-1 final on Friday evening.

The Warriors posted 47 kills, with Paige O'Connor leading the team with 19 kills.  Freshman Olivia Johnson followed O'Connor with 17 kills.  Annika Jones posted 37 of the 46 assists the Warriors recorded in the victory.  Of the eight service aces recorded, Kendall Vallancourt made four of them.  Katie Anderson led the team with 25 digs.  Four Warriors posted blocks in the victory.

Match Vitals

Set One Final: Limestone 25, Southern Wesleyan 13

Set Two Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, Limestone 22

Set Three Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, Limestone 16

Set Four Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, Limestone 23

Records: Southern Wesleyan (8-7 / CC 3-2), Limestone (2-7 / CC 2-3)

Coach Reininga says…

"I'm really proud of how the team fought back tonight after set 1!  Limestone was a very solid team and we had to battle all night!"

How It Happened

Set One

Southern Wesleyan struck first on a kill by Paige O'Connor, however the Saints countered to tie the first set 1-1.  The Warriors charged ahead to take a 3-1 point lead on attack errors by the Saints.  The set went back and forth with the Warriors pulling ahead and then the Saints tying them.  Limestone pushed past Southern Wesleyan to take a 10-8 point lead.  They extended their lead and won the first set 25-13.

Set Two

Like the first set, Southern Wesleyan jumped ahead early to take a 5-3 point lead on kills by Paige O'Connor.  The Saints countered to take control of the second set on service aces by Darla Svoboda to give them a 10-6 point lead.  However, kills by Kendall Vallancourt, Olivia Johnson and Davis Hendricks allowed to take a 12-10 point lead.  The Saints fought back to come to one behind the Warriors, but kills by Paige O'Connor and Kendall Vallancourt gave the Warriors a 25-22 point second set victory.

Set Three

Limestone took the lead first on an attack error by the Warriors, however the Warriors countered to tie the set on a kill by Paige O'Connor.  Southern Wesleyan scored 10 points to take an 11-5 point lead over Limestone.  However, a kill by Darla Svoboda put the Saints to five points behind the Warriors and propelled the Saints to go on a score eight more puts to come to 14-16 behind Southern Wesleyan.  However, kills by Kendall Vallancourt and Olivia Johnson allowed the Warriors to regain control and take a 25-16 point lead.

Set Four

The Saints jumped out to take a 5-1 point lead over the Warriors.  However, back-to-back kills by Paige O'Connor and Olivia Johnson allowed the Warriors to take a 7-5 lead.  They pushed their lead to 15-10, but the Saints countered to tie the fourth set 17-17 after a bad set.  Limestone went on to take a 20-18 point lead on kills by Rycki Ebert.  However, back-to-back kills by Paige O'Connor allowed the Warriors to take a 21-20 point lead over the Saints.  In an intense final few points, a kill by Kendall Vallancourt gave the Warriors a 25-23 point victory.

What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will next travel to Converse to take on the Valkyries on September 30 at 2 p.m.  The Warriors will then return home on October 6 to take on the Emmanuel Lions at 7 p.m. and celebrate Senior Night.