SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Nov. 8) – The senior duo of
Ashlyn Stone and
Callie Mullins combined for 33 kills on Friday night, as the University of Mount Olive women's volleyball program captured a thrilling 3-2 win at Converse in Conference Carolinas action.
With the win, the Trojans have won 14 of their last 15 matches and improve to 19-7 this season with a 15-2 record in conference play. Mount Olive will play their final regular season contest tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9, at Belmont Abbey, as it continues to battle for the No. 1 seed in the KPI rankings. Meanwhile, Converse falls to 18-7 overall behind a 12-3 mark in league action.
Stone registered her 13th kill/dig double-double of the season after tallying a game-high 18 kills and 21 digs over five sets played. Mullins finished with 15 kills, two service aces, one block, and two digs against the Valkyries. Freshman
Olivia Melvin reached double-digit kills with 11 while adding three assists, one block, and six digs. Sophomore
Lyndsay Reid led the offensive effort with 34 assists, five aces, and 10 digs. Junior
Breanna Tanton finished with 16 assists, one service ace, and nine digs on Friday night.
Junior Carolina Sheaffer directed the defense with a career-high 32 digs while freshman
Kacey Gore finished with 23 digs. Senior
Kate Carter controlled the net with three blocks and sophomore
Danielle Parker added a pair of blocks in the win.
Converse built an early 7-4 advantage in the opening set before the Trojans countered with three straight points to tie the match at 7-7. The Valkyries countered with six unanswered points, but Mount Olive rallied with an 8-2 run with a pair of kills from Mullins and sophomore
Kaitlyn Landis, 15-15. Following a kill by Converse, UMO mounted a 10-2 run behind four kills from Melvin to claim the set, 25-18.
Mount Olive established a 10-3 lead to begin the second set before the Valkyries responded with three straight points to trim the deficit, 10-6. With the Trojans ahead by a 14-6 margin, Converse scored six of the next eight points to close the gap to 16-12. UMO quickly countered with three unanswered points before cruising to a 25-18 victory.
Despite a 7-5 lead by the Trojans in the third set, the Valkyries managed to rally with a 9-2 run to claim a 14-9 advantage. Mount Olive cut the deficit to 17-14 with kills from three different players, but Converse tallied three straight kills before taking the set by a 25-19 margin.
The Valkyries held an early lead in the fourth set, but the Trojans responded with an 8-2 rally to hold a 13-7 lead. Converse eventually tied the match at 14-14 before UMO scored three consecutive points to regain a 17-14 edge. Both sides exchanged runs down the stretch before Mount Olive reached match point at 25-24. The Valkyries rallied once again with three unanswered points to steal the fourth set, 27-25.
In the fifth set, the teams were tied four different times in the opening points before the Trojans scored four consecutive points to take a 13-9 lead behind two kills from Mullins. Converse tallied four of the following five points to trim the deficit to 14-13, but UMO secured the win with a kill by Stone, 15-13.
The Trojans close the regular season tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9, at Belmont Abbey in league play at 1 p.m.
