Central, SC – Southern Wesleyan swept past the Columbia Koalas on Wednesday evening in a 3-0 final score.
The Warriors totaled 25 kills in their first victory of the 2024 season. Freshman Karson Haley led the team with 10 kills. Katie Fulton picked up 12 assists. She was followed by Hannah Wilson with seven. Sarah Mitchell had four service aces with Amiyah Spann closely following here with three. Both Kristina Pino and Hannah Wilson served up two aces.
Defensively, Southern Wesleyan had 30 total digs. Karson Haley, Kristina Pino, and Katie Fulton each had four. Trinity Gibson and Sarah Mitchell each had two blocks in the victory.
Match Vitals
Set One Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, Columbia 18
Set Two Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, Columbia 17
Set Three Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, Columbia 17
Records: Southern Wesleyan (1-3) Columbia (1-5)
How It Happened
Set One
The Warriors kicked off the first set with a kill by Sarah Mitchell. The Koalas countered with a kill by Gracie Hicklin. Karson Haley laid down a kill to tie the set up. Southern Wesleyan pushed on to take the lead on the next point as Mitchell served her first ace of the match. Columbia fought back as an ace by Jada Gentry put them ahead of the Warriors 9-7. Their lead was short lived as Mikaylah Hutton put down a kill off a pass from Katie Fulton to tie the set up. Back-to-back kills by Karson Haley and Hutton allowed Southern Wesleyan to take a two point lead over Columbia. The Warriors would not relent their attacks as Haley and Megan Gilliland laid down more several more kills. The Koalas went on the attack, but Angel Jimenez and Trinity Gibson blocked the attack from paying off and cutting into Southern Wesleyan's lead. Karson Haley put up a kill to give the Warriors a 25-18 point victory in the first set.
Set Two
Southern Wesleyan continued their intensity in the second set as Karson Haley put down a kill. However, Columbia countered as Tamia Fripp and Gracie Hicklin each killed the ball to take the lead. Their lead was short lived as Sarah Mitchell served up another ace to tie the set back up 3-3. Kristina Pino followed her with an ace of her own to put Southern Wesleyan ahead of Columbia. The Koalas challenged, but none of their attacks paid off. A kill by Angel Jimenez extended the Warriors lead to four points. Tamia Fripp put down another kill for the Koalas, but the Warriors countered with kills by Katie Fulton and Trinity Gibson. Kristina Pino served in an ace to extend the Warriors lead to 24-15. Columbia was able to put two more points on the board, but Southern Wesleyan claimed set two 25-17.
Set Three
The Warriors took the first point of the third set off an ace by Hannah Wilson. However, an ace by Katie Roberts allowed the Koalas to take the lead. Sarah Mitchell and Mikaylah Hutton blocked Columbia's next attack to tie the set up 2-2. Kills by Elli Moore and Karson Haley allowed the Warriors to regain their lead. Hannah Wilson set the ball up for Trinity Gibson who put down another kill to extend Southern Wesleyan's lead to 8-3. Southern Wesleyan pushed on with more kills by Ellie Moore and Emma Ronaldson. Columbia College challenged, but their challenge was met by an assisted block by Sarah Mitchell and Karson Haley to keep them from cutting into the Warriors' lead. Alexxis Wader served up an ace to help the Warriors wrap up a 25-17 final set victory.
What's Next
Southern Wesleyan will hit the road on September 13 as they travel to Emory, VA to take on the Emory & Henry Wasps at 6pm. They will then return to Historic Tysinger Gymnasium on September 21 to host the Coker Cobras. Southern Wesleyan will open up Conference Carolinas action on September 25 as they host the Converse Valkyries.
