Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Championship: Presbyterian Rallies to Claim Title

Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Championship: Presbyterian Rallies to Claim Title
November 13, 2005

HICKORY, N.C. - The top seed Presbyterian College Lady Blue Hose fought back from a two game deficit to win 25-30, 20-30, 30-22, 32-30, 15-9 over No. 2 seed Wingate University in the championship match of the 2005 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament held Sunday afternoon on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne College.

The victory gives the Lady Blue Hose (32-4) their second straight SAC Tournament title and the league's automatic bid to next weekend's NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament. Wingate (25-5) will await word on an at-large bid announced later today.

In the first game, Wingate took command early and never relinquished the lead. Wingate's junior All-SAC standout, Rebecca Brezovec (Durham, N.C.), tallied four kills and three assist blocks as the Bulldogs led wire-to-wire en route to a 30-25 victory. Both teams struggled offensively in the first stanza with PC hitting .179 as a team to Wingate's .156. PC's senior All-SAC standout Erin Friday (Summerville, S.C.) led the way for the Lady Blue Hose with four kills.

In the second game, Wingate hit. 351 as a team behind four kills apiece from Brezovec, junior Danielle Thompson (Channelview, Tex.), and junior All-SAC selection Molly Kerns (Bellefontaine, OH) en route to a 30-20 victory. PC hit only .132 in the second game, but were led by Friday's four kills.

The Lady Blue Hose fought back in the third game behind the play of Friday and SAC Player of the Year selection, senior Jasmin Brown (Alpharetta, Ga.), to win 30-22. Friday and Brown each tallied five kills apiece in the game while SAC Freshman of the Year selection, Rachel Lewis (Bloomington, Ill.) dished out 13 assists. Wingate was plagued by seven service errors in the game while hitting only .128 as a team.

In the fourth game, Presbyterian fought back from a late game deficit to take a 32-30 victory and force a final fifth game. The Lady Blue Hose got a big boost from SAC All-Freshman selection, Juistine Lanchester (Bloomington, Ill.), who tallied five kills and a pair of service aces in the victory. Lewis led the offense with 17 assists, but Wingate tallied 15 total blocks in the game led by Brezovec who tallied five total blocks to go along with six kills to lead the Bulldogs.

In the deciding game, the Lady Blue Hose took control by jumping out to a 6-0 lead. PC never trailed in the final game and held off several Bulldogs runs to secure the victory 15-9. All-SAC selection, sophomore Lauren Mason (Peachtree City, GA.) keyed the final game for PC with three kills while Wingate was led by Brezovec's three kills.

Brezovec tallied a match-high 21 kills in the match while Thompson added 15 kills for the Bulldogs. PC's Brown added 15 kills and six assist blocks while Mason chipped in 12 kills.

PC's Friday led the way with a team-best 18 kills to go along with 19 digs en route to Food Lion SAC Tournament MVP honors. Friday was joined on the SAC All-Tournament team by freshman libero Malorey Grove (Albany, Ind.) who tallied 19 digs and senior Allyn Beam (Charleston, S.C.) who added five kills and 15 digs. Wingate placed two players on the squad led by sophomore setter Melissa Deluca (Bahama, N.C.) who tallied a team-best 48 assists and added 15 digs, while sophomore libero Amanda Siegrist (Wexford, Pa.) was also selected after tallying 16 digs in the championship match.

Lenoir-Rhyne 's senior middle blocker Angela Danley (Snellville, Ga.) and Carson-Newman's senior libero Blaire Young (Morristown, Tenn.) rounded out the SAC All-Tournament team.

Presbyterian College def. Wingate University 25-30,20-30,30-22,32-30,15-9
 Wingate University (25-5, 11-3 SAC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Rebecca Brezovec 21-4-10; Danielle Thompson 14-0-3; Lauren Alley 11-1-3; Molly Kerns 9-0-3; Kathryn Reddick 6-0-4; Rachelle Rostas 4-0-1; Marcia Ehorn 2-0-0; Melissa Deluca 2-0-2; Emily Paffrath 0-0-1; Nicole Francis 0-1-0; Sarah Godec 0-1-0; Amanda Siegrist 0-1-0; Totals 69-8-14.0. (Assists) - Melissa Deluca 48. (Dig leaders) - Amanda Siegrist 16; Melissa Deluca 15; Danielle Thompson 14; Lauren Alley 12; Nicole Francis 8
Presbyterian College (32-4, 14-0 SAC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Erin Friday 18-0-2; Jasmin Brown 15-0-6; Lauren Mason 12-0-4; Justine Lanchester 11-4-1; Allyn Beam 5-1-1; Rachel Lewis 1-0-1; Malorey Grove 0-2-0; Totals 62-7-8.0. (Assists) - Rachel Lewis 53. (Dig leaders) - Erin Friday 19; Malorey Grove 19; Lauren Mason 16; Allyn Beam 15; Rachel Lewis 12; Justine Lanchester 8
Site: Hickory, N.C. (Shuford Gymnasium) Date: Nov 13, 2005 Attend: 161 Time: 2:08 Referees: Tad Watson, B.J. Willard