Milledgeville, GA – Southern Wesleyan split their first two games of the Bobcat Classic on Friday afternoon. After dropping their first match against Carson-Newman in a 3-0 final, the Warriors claimed a 3-0 victory over the Georgia College Bobcats in their second match of the tournament.
The Warriors picked up 29 kills in their first match of the season. Sophomore Kaylon Chapman led the team with 10 kills while Michaela Andress followed with seven. Lily Clarkson had eight of the 23 assists in the game. Freshman Rylie Barriger led the Warriors with two services aces while Chapman was right behind her with one. Briley Wolff, Chapman and Sarah Mitchell each had blocks.
Southern Wesleyan took down the Georgia College Bobcats in their second game of the tournament. The Warriors had 40 kills in the match with Michaela Andress leading the team with 11 kills. Rylie Barriger led the Warriors with 17 of the 34 assists. Southern Wesleyan picked up six service aces with both Faith Paxton and Andress laying down two. Paxton went on to have 16 digs.
Match Vitals
Game One: Southern Wesleyan vs Carson-Newman
Set One: Carson-Newman 25, Southern Wesleyan 18
Set Two: Carson-Newman 25, Southern Wesleyan 13
Set Three : Carson-Newman 25, Southern Wesleyan 20
Game Two: Southern Wesleyan vs Georgia College
Set One: Southern Wesleyan 25, Georgia College 10
Set Two: Southern Wesleyan 25, Georgia College 19
Set Three: Southern Wesleyan 25, Georgia College 23
Records: Southern Wesleyan (1-1) Carson-Newman (2-0) Georgia College (0-2)
How It Happened
Southern Wesleyan vs Georgia College
Set One
Southern Wesleyan opened up the second game of the tournament with a kill off the hands of Michaela Andress. The Warriors would not relent as kills by Sarah Mitchell and Kaylon Chapman allowed them to extend their lead to 5-1. Faith Paxton went to serve and gained her first ace of the match. Chapman set the ball up to Briley Wolff who slammed it past the Bobcats to extend their lead to eight. Georgia College answered with a kill by Madison Husband. However, the Warriors fought on as Andress and Elise Fulgham each got down kills. Southern Wesleyan continued to shut down each of Georgia College's attacks to prevent the Bobcats from cutting into the Warriors advantage. A kill by Megan Gilliland allowed the Warriors to take set one in a 25-10 final score.
Set Two
The Bobcats went on an early attack in the second set as Ella Curbow got in a kill off a pass from Sadie Parkerson. Rylie Barriger set the ball up to Megan Gilliland who drilled the ball down for a kill to put Southern Wesleyan on top. However, the Bobcats answered as a kill by Avery Huyck allowed Georgia College to go on a run to extend their lead to 5-3. Back-to-back kills by Sarah Mitchell and Lily Clarkson tied the set up, but it was short lived as Emersyn Mullvain got the ball past the Warriors. Southern Wesleyan would not relent as Gilliland got in another kill. Michaela Andress and Sarah Mitchell got up to block an attack off the hands of Lilly Swanson. Kills by Briley Wolff and Andress put the Warriors back on top. Georgia College fought on, but Andress got in one more kill to allow the Warriors to claim the second set in a 25-19 final.
Set Three
Georgia College struck first in the final set of the match as Madison Husband put down a kill off a pass from Liv Diaz. Seconds later, a kill by Michaela Andress allowed the Warriors to tie the set up. The Bobcats continued to put up a fight as Kendra Leboehi got in a couple more kills. Avery Huyck served the ball in for an ace to extend Georgia College's lead to 8-4. Southern Wesleyan would not back down though as a kill by Sarah Mitchell tied the set up at twelve. The Bobcats regained the lead as Ella Curbow and Reece Wright blocked an attack by Andress. However, Andress attacked the net again and got the ball down for a kill. An ace by Faith Paxton and a kill off the hands of Kaylon Chapman allowed the Warriors to take the final set in a 25-23 final.
What's Next
Southern Wesleyan will wrap up the Bobcat Classic on August 29 as they take on the Albany State Golden Rams at 11:30am before facing the West Alabama Tigers at 4:30pm. They will then take to Historic Tysinger Gymnasium for their home and Conference Carolinas opener on September 9th as they welcome the Erskine Flying Fleet to Central for a 6pm match.
