August 29, 2006

LAURINBURG, N.C.—The Francis Marion University volleyball team used a well-balanced attack in a 3-0 (30-23, 30-18, 32-30) non-conference victory over host St. Andrews Presbyterian College on Tuesday evening in Harris Court.

The Patriots improved to 4-1 on the early season while the Knights dropped to 2-3.

FMU broke open a 12-12 deadlocked first game with an 8-2 run and held on to take the opening game 30-23. The Lady Patriots maintained the momentum with an impressive second frame, 30-18. Francis Marion continued its strong play taking a quick 13-5 lead in the third but St. Andrews battled back.

After slowly closing the gap to 29-26 and surviving a match point attempt, the Knights rallied off four straight points to take a 30-29 advantage. However, a Francis Marion timeout killed the run and the Lady Patriots rattled off three straight points to take the finale, 32-30.

Junior Michelle Settergren (Walnut, Calif.) ended the match with her team-high 10th kill. Sophomore Jessica Lombardi (Massillon, Ohio) and senior Lezlie Logan (Cleburne, Texas) followed with nine and eight kills, respectively.

Sophomore Jenna Kaiser (Broomfield, Colo.) supplied 36 assists and made nine digs for the Patriots. Senior Jessica Strader (Kettering, Ohio) had team-high’s of 24 digs and three aces while junior Jackie Phiel (Amherst, Ohio) added 11 digs.

Junior Lindsey Stansbury (Morgan City, La.) and freshman Galina Podolsky (Raleigh, N.C.) led the Knights offense with eight kills apiece. Stansbury also added seven digs while junior Erin Haugen (Fort Mill, S.C.) had a team-high eight digs. Senior Kim Harper (Boca Raton, Fla.) dished up 33 assists.

Both teams head to Banner Elk, N.C., for the Lees-McRae Tournament on September 2-3. Over the two days both squads will play four matches including a third meeting between SAPC and FMU on Sept. 3 at 11:00 a.m.