September 15, 2005

MOUNT OLIVE , NC— Heidi Busch recorded 13 kills and freshman Mallory Peavler tallied match highs of 34 assists and four aces in her first collegiate start as Mount Olive defeated St. Andrews 30-19, 30-20, 30-25 in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference volleyball Thursday at Kornegay Arena.

Mount Olive (4-2 overall, 2-0 CVAC), who were picked first in the CVAC Preseason Coaches Poll, fell behind 3-0 in game one before Colby Mangum served for eight consecutive points to give the Trojans the lead for good. Mangum had two of her three aces during the scoring run and served her third ace on game point.

St. Andrews (1-6, 1-1) jumped out to a 7-2 lead in game two, but Busch’s ace pulled the Trojans within a point. St. Andrews built the lead back to 14-11 before Mount Olive answered with a 12-3 run. The Trojans closed the game with six unanswered points as Peavler recorded three aces on the final four points.

Mount Olive trailed much of game three until a pair of aces by Anna Luft and Sam Mitchell sparked an 11-1 run and gave the Trojans a 23-15 lead. St. Andrews made a couple late runs to pull the Knights within four, but Mitchell’s cross-court kill on match point sealed the victory.

Mitchell and Luft finished with nine kills apiece for the Trojans. Mitchell and Nikki Murphy also had seven digs apiece. Mangum shared match-high honors with three blocks.

Jessica Bewley (Cincinnati, OH) led St. Andrews with seven kills and three blocks, while Dani Ghramm (Hayden, ID) added six kills, eight digs and two aces. Erin Haugen (Ft. Mills, SC) finished with nine digs for the Knights while Kim Harper (Boca Raton, FL) had 15 assists and a .364 hitting percentage.

The Trojans are in action Saturday as they play host to Converse in a CVAC match-up while St. Andrews travels to Anderson Friday at 6:30 p.m. for a CVAC contest.