RALEIGH, N.C. (Sept. 15) – After meeting just one week ago, the Trojans responded with a 3-1 victory on Friday night at Shaw on the opening day of the ShawU Volleyball Invitational held at historic C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.

With the win, the University of Mount Olive women's volleyball program improves to 5-4 overall and tallies back-to-back wins for the first time this year. The two sides split the season series for a consecutive year. Meanwhile, the Lady Bears drop to 10-3 overall after winning nine-straight matches entering tonight's game.

Junior Ashlyn Stone led the Trojans with 13 kills on a .314 hitting percentage while adding nine digs and two blocks. A native of Rougemont, North Carolina, she paces the team with 2.91 points and 2.63 kills per set through nine matches. Fellow junior Karoline Cox produced a stellar all-round performance with nine kills on a .381 clip with four aces, three blocks (all solos), and 13 digs. Freshman Kaitlyn Landis and junior Callie Mullins each tallied eight kills, respectively, in the win on Friday. Senior Jenna Myer directed the offense with 15 assists while freshman Lyndsay Reid dished out 11 assists.

Mount Olive featured a trio of players with double-digit digs, including Cox. Senior Morgan Prots registered 12 digs and seven assists while sophomore Caroline Sheaffer delivered 11 digs. The Trojans recorded 12 service aces in the win, led by Reid with a career-high six. At the net, sophomore Kate Carter controlled the defensive side with four blocks.

In the opening set, the Trojans established an early 6-2 advantage behind kills from Mullins and Stone, but Shaw answered with a 10-2 rally to take a 12-8 lead. The Lady Bears kept momentum and built the lead to 18-10 before UMO scored two of the next three points. Shaw managed to close out the first set by a 25-15 margin.

The Lady Bears controlled the energy to start the second set by holding a 6-3 lead. The Trojans slowly chipped away at the deficit before using a 6-1 run to take a 14-13 advantage. Shaw responded by tying the match before both teams traded points late in the set. With the score tied at 22-22, UMO capitalized on a service error to score the final three points to win, 25-22.

After little separation to open the third set, the Lady Bears tallied eight of the following 11 points to establish a 15-11 lead. Mount Olive countered with a massive 11-2 rally, which included three service aces to take a 22-17 advantage. The Trojans scored three of the final five points to win the third on a kill by Landis, 25-19.

UMO completed the rally in the fourth set after tallying 20 kills on a .419 hitting percentage. The Trojans managed to build an early 13-8 lead after a kill from Stone. Shaw answered with consecutive points, but Mount Olive responded with three straight points, 16-10. The Lady Bears eventually cut the deficit to 18-16 before UMO delivered three kills in a row and closed out the set by a 25-20 margin.

UMO returns to the court on Saturday, Sept. 16 for a pair of matches against Alaska Fairbanks and St. Augustine's in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the ShawU Volleyball Invitational with the first match beginning at 11 a.m.