October 6, 2006

SPARTANBURG, S.C.—The Converse College All-Stars defeated the Knights of St. Andrew Presbyterian College 3-2 (30-20, 22-30, 23-30, 30-28, 15-7).  The All-Stars improved to 14-7 overall and 6-3 in CVAC play; while the Knights fell to 12-13 and 5-4 in the CVAC. 

Converse opened the first game with an 11-0 run. The All-Stars never looked back and won game one in convincing fashion, 30-20. 

In game 2, the Lady Knights began much better by grabbing an early 4-1 lead. They would hold the lead until Converse caught them at 10-9.  Trailing by one point at 11-10, the Knights put on a run of their own. They would rattle off six unanswered points. The Knights would eventually stretch the lead to eight points at 22-14.  St. Andrews went on to win game-two by that same margin, 30-22. 

The two schools started game-three by trading points and the lead a couple of times. With Converse leading 11-10, the Knights put together a very impressive 10-point run to take a 20-10 lead. Converse would never recover and the Knights would take a 2-1 advantage in match. 

Game-four saw the momentum switch a number of times. After being tied at five apiece, Converse would score 10 of the next 12 points to take a 15-7 lead. The Knights would chip away at Converse’s lead and eventually take it at 23-20. The teams would exchange points before St. Andrews seemed poised for victory.  With the Knights two points from the win, 28-26, and momentum on their side, Converse dug deep and rallied off four points to steal the fourth frame by a score of 30-28.

Converse used the momentum of the game-four comeback and the near capacity crowd to win the decisive game and the match. With the game tied at four, Converse ended the fifth game with an 11-3 run to win 15-7.

Converse was offensively by the Wallace sisters. Melanie recorded 15 kills, while Monica added 10. Lauren Mueller also had 10 kills in the match. Allison Ralston dished out 22 assists. Sally Crossley had 31 digs.  Monica Wallace added 25, while Michelle Sloan had an additional 14 digs. Sloan and Ralston each served two aces. Sarah Javdan-Inallo picked up four blocks on the evening.

For St. Andrews, Lindsey Stansbury led the way with 19 kills. Tara Lemieux and Galina Podolsky had 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Kim Harper recorded 32 digs while Stansbury had 26 on the night. Erin Haugen added 25 digs. Jesi Bewley served three aces on the night and Stansbury again made the leader sheet with two aces. Besides leading the team in digs, Harper also dished out 52 assists in the match.