Central, SC – Southern Wesleyan dropped their final regular season match against the Lees-McRae Bobcats on Monday evening in a 3-1 final score.

The Warriors totaled 34 kills in the final match of the season.  Emily Ellis picked up 10 kills with Gracie Wilson following with eight and Micheala Andress recording seven.  Of the 29 assists, Ashley Sexton had 13 and Hannah Wilson had 10.  Hannah Wilson and Micheala Andress each had service aces.  Southern Wesleyan had seven blocks with both Trinity Eichman and Gracie Wilson recording three.  Kristina Pino had 23 of the 77 digs.

Match Vitals

Set One Final: Lees-McRae 25, Southern Wesleyan 18

Set Two Final: Lees-McRae 25, Southern Wesleyan 19

Set Three Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, Lees-McRae 21

Set Four Final: Lees-McRae 25, Southern Wesleyan 13

Records: Southern Wesleyan (3-24 / CC 1-16) Lees-McRae (14-10 / CC 11-5)

How It Happened

Set One

Southern Wesleyan charged out of the gate as an ace by Hannah Wilson and kill by Gracie Wilson allowed the Warriors to take a 4-0 point advantage.  The Bobcats countered with a kill by Patrycja Rykala.  They went on to tie the set up on a kill by Destiny Holley.  However, a kill by Megan Gilliland and an assisted block by Emily Ellis and Trinity Eichman allowed the Warriors to regain the lead.  The lead was short lived as kills by Sydney Stigler put Lees-McRae on top 14-11.  A kill by Ellis allowed the Warriors to stay within two points of the Bobcats.  Lees-McRae pushed ahead on kills by Stigler to win the first set in a 25-18 final.

Set Two

A kill by Micheala Andress allowed the Warriors to take the first point of the second set, but kills by Hailey Gilreath and Sydney Stigler allowed the Bobcats to push ahead.  They continued to distance themselves from the Warriors with kills by Destiny Holley and Madison Goins.  Southern Wesleyan was not discouraged as kills by Emily Ellis, Emma Ronaldson and Micheala Andress allowed the Warriors to fight back to within two points.  They would not back down as Gracie Wilson blocked the Bobcats attacks.  Holley put down another kill to extend Lees-McRae's lead to six.  They went on to win the second set in a 25-19 final.

Set Three

Lees-McRae took the first point on a kill by Destiny Holley, but a kill by Gracie Wilson allowed Southern Wesleyan to tie the set up.  The Bobcats pushed on as kills by Destiny Holley and Sydney Stigler to take a 5-2 point lead.  Megan Gilliland and Trinity Eichman blocked the Bobcats attacks to put the Warriors within two.  Micheala Andress laid down an ace to tie the third set up at eleven points apiece.  They continued to push ahead as Emily Ellis put down a kill.  The Bobcats countered to tie the set up on a kill by Holley.  However, kills by Gracie Wilson, Emma Ronaldson and Ellis put the Warriors ahead by five.  Ellis killed the ball to give the Warriors a 25-21 point victory in the third set.

Set Four

Gracie Wilson put down a kill off a pass from Ashley Sexton to give the Warriors the first point of the final set.  However, the Bobcats tied the set up on an assisted block by Nicole Osborne and Destiny Holley before they took the lead on a kill by Sydney Stigler.  An ace by Osborne extended the Bobcats lead to four.  Lees-McRae would not relent with attacks by Stigler.  Gracie Wilson blocked an attack by Osborne to put the Warriors back within five points of the Bobcats.  The Bobcats won the final set in a 25-13 final.