Bailey Carpenter
Senior Bailey Carpenter finished with 14 digs and two service aces for the Saints on Homecoming Saturday.
3
Winner Lenoir-Rhyne LRU 6-2, 4-0 SAC
1
Limestone LU 5-5, 2-3 SAC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Lenoir-Rhyne LRU 25 16 25 25 (3)
Limestone LU 14 25 20 23 (1)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Ernest Meyers, Assistant A.D. for Media Relations

Limestone Losses Hard-Fought Contest on Homecoming to Lenoir-Rhyne

GAFFNEY, S.C. – The Limestone University women's volleyball team had several players put up huge performances in a hard-fought battle against visiting Lenoir-Rhyne University on Homecoming Saturday but would ultimately come up a bit short in a 3-1 league decision on September 25 at the Timken Center.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Limestone 1
Set Scores: 25-14, 16-25, 25-20, 25-23
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (6-2, 4-0), Limestone (5-5, 2-3)
Location: Timken Center
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 
  • Freshman setter Paige Gardella (Sugar Grove, Ill.) finished with 22 assists, 19 digs, and two aces
  • Senior Madysen Williams (Antioch, Tenn.) posted another double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs
  • Senior Vanessa Blas (Concord, N.C.) just missed a double-double with 13 kills and nine digs
  • Sophomore setter Malina Harris (Mooresville, N.C.) added 15 assists to go with four digs
  • Senior Gabby Wessels (Watseka, Ill.) chipped in 16 digs to go with a pair of assists
  • Senior Bailey Carpenter (Lawrenceville, Ga.) registered 14 digs on the afternoon
  • Senior Madeline Yeager (Sacramento, Calif.) logged seven kills, a block, and three block assists
  • Senior Madyson Lousignont (Las Vegas, Nev.) also had three block assists to go with four kills
  • Freshman Josie Curran (Westerville, Ohio) tallied seven kills and three block assists
  • Limestone hit .197 as a team while Lenoir-Rhyne finished with a .183 attack percentage
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
First Set
 
Lenoir-Rhyne got off to a fast start Saturday afternoon, jumping out to a quick 6-2 advantage, but the Saints rallied with a 9-5 surge to even the opening set at 11-all. Junior Leilani Wilcox Nanai (Christchurch, New Zealand) posted a pair of kills during that run before Blas capped the stretch with a monstrous blast.
 
The Bears quickly pulled away, however, closing out the frame with a commanding 14-3 run. Williams added a pair of attacks down the stretch, but Lenoir-Rhyne took a 1-0 match lead with a 25-14 set win.  
 
Second Set
 
Attacks from Blas and Yeager staked Limestone to a 3-1 edge early in the second set before back-to-back kills from Williams and a block by Lousignont and Curran make it 6-3 a few moments later. The Bears answered with a quick 3-1 spurt to close the gap to one, but the Saints countered with a 12-4 run.
 
Blas poured in on with five kills during the decisive stretch while an ace from Gardella and a couple of attacks by Curran gave the Blue and Gold a 19-10 cushion. Lenoir-Rhyne tried to climb back into the set but kills from Harris and Yeager allowed Limestone to knot the match at one apiece with a 25-16 decision.  
 
Third Set
 
Following a service ace by Gardella to start the swing frame, the Bears ran off three straight points before kills from Blas and Williams tied the set at 4-all for Limestone in the early stages. However, Lenoir-Rhyne would rattle off six straight and 11 of the next 14 points to pull away, 15-7, midway through the third set.
 
The Blue and Gold did not back down as two kills from Blas bookended a 5-0 spurt, closing the margin to 15-12, before the Bears countered with a 9-3 run to maneuver into set point, 24-15. The Saints clawed back again with a 5-0 surge, highlighted by two attacks from Williams, but the visitors won the set, 25-20.
 
Fourth Set
 
A rare kill from Gardella and yet another attack by both Blas and Yeager gave the Saints a fast 4-2 lead, but the Bears would start a back-and-forth frame with a 5-2 run to make it 7-6. A kill by Lousignont and then a service ace from freshman Madison Gentry (Easley, S.C.) powered a 3-0 spurt to put Limestone back on top, 9-7, before Lenoir-Rhyne answered with another 5-2 counterattack to move in front, 12-11.
 
The Blue and Gold tallied four of the next six points, using a kill by Yeager and a block by both Williams and Lousignont to grab a 16-13 advantage only for the Bears to again answer with a 5-2 stretch to tie the set at 18. Limestone would regain the lead, 20-18, behind a kill from Blas, but the Bears closed out the 3-1 match win by ending the fourth set on a 7-3 run, applying the final touches with a narrow 25-23 set win.  
 
TURNING POINT
 
After the two teams split the first two sets, Lenoir-Rhyne used an 11-3 run in the swing frame to grab a lead that it would not relinquish the rest of the way. The Saints battled back with a pair of 5-0 runs, but it was not quite enough as the Bears held off the Blue and Gold in sets three and four to pick up the win.
 
NOTABLES
 
  • The serving team in each of the first three sets lost the frame
  • The Bears would break that trend in the fourth and final stanza
  • Limestone has attack percentages of .289 in the second set and .250 in the third
  • Gentry finished with two digs, an ace, and an assist during the fourth set
  • The Saints and Bears met on the volleyball court for the first time since 2014
 
UP NEXT
 
Coming off a season-long homestand, the Saints will make a trip to Tennessee for a pair of matches next weekend starting with a visit to Lincoln Memorial University on Friday, October 1 at 7 p.m.
 
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