Central, SC – Southern Wesleyan swept past the North Greenville Trailblazers on Saturday afternoon in a 3-0 final.
The Warriors picked up 43 kills in their third conference victory of the week. Megan Gilliland led the team with 11 kills. Ainsley Stovall was right behind her with nine. Of the 32 assists, Amiyah Spann had 16. The Warriors served up four aces in the match.
Defensively, the Warriors had 59 digs with senior libero Faith Paxton leading the team with 13. Behind her, Lauren Smith had 10 digs and Rylie Barriger had eight. Sarah Mitchell and Briley Wolff each blocked four attacks by the Trailblazers.
Match Vitals
Set One: Southern Wesleyan 25, North Greenville 21
Set Two: Southern Wesleyan 25, North Greenville 18
Set Three: Southern Wesleyan 25, North Greenville 21
Records: Southern Wesleyan (5-2 / CC 3-0) North Greenville (5-6 / CC 1-2)
How It Happened
Set One
The Warriors jumped out early as Megan Gilliland collected a pass from Amiyah Spann and got the ball down for a kill. North Greenville fought back as Samantha Ball got in a kill. Reagan Funderburk looked to help North Greenville gain the lead, but Briley Wolff blocked her attack at the net. A kill by Wolff jump started a five point run for the Warriors that allowed them to take a 12-7 point lead. Gilliland and Sarah Mitchell got up to block another attack by the Trailblazers. Lily Clarkson set the ball up to Kaylon Chapman who drilled it past the Trailblazers to force the set point. North Greenville got a couple more points on the board, but Sarah Mitchell laid down a kill of her own to give the Warriors a 25-21 point victory in the first set.
Set Two
Southern Wesleyan would not relent in the attacks in the second set. After an attack error by the Trailblazers gave the Warriors the first point of the set, Briley Wolff and Ainsley Stovall got down several more kills to extend the Warriors lead to 4-0. Anna Fiddelke got the ball down for a kill to get North Greenville on the board. However, the Warriors pushed on with a kill by Megan Gilliland. Southern Wesleyan continued to pressure North Greenville as Kaylon Chapman and Ainsley Stovall each got the ball down for kills. Chesney Yates served up an ace to put North Greenville within two points of the Warriors, but Stovall answered with a kill to regain the Warriors three point lead. Rylie Barriger set the ball up to Stovall who drilled it past the Trailblazers to give Southern Wesleyan a 25-18 point victory in set two.
Set Three
An early ace by Madison Sherman allowed North Greenville to claim the first point of the third set. However, seconds later Ainsley Stovall got the ball down for a kill to tie the third set up. Kaylon Chapman and Sarah Mitchell blocked the next attack by the Trailblazers. Amiyah Spann set the ball up to Chapman for her to get down another kill for the Warriors. Kills by Ellie Moore and Mitchell allowed the Warriors to extend their lead to four. North Greenville continued to look to cut into Southern Wesleyan's lead as Karson Haley put up an attack, but Briley Wolff and Stovall blocked Haley's attack on the net. Megan Gilliland collected a pass from Faith Paxton and got the ball down for a kill to give the Warriors a 25-21 point victory.
What's Next
The Warriors will travel to Rome, GA on September 15 to take on the Shorter Hawks at 6pm. They will then return to Historic Tysinger Gymnasium on September 18-19 to host the Converse Valkyries and the Ferrum Panthers. Southern Wesleyan will travel to Banner Elk, NC to take on the Lees-McRae Bobcats on September 25.
