October 11, 2006

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C.—A late rally came up short as Mount Olive College fell to St. Andrews Prebyterian College 3-1 (30-27, 24-30, 30-28, 31-29) in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference volleyball Wednesday at Kornegay Arena.

Sam Mitchell led the Trojans with 19 kills and 13 digs, but it was Lindsey Stansbury’s service ace on match point that sealed the win for St. Andrews.

Mount Olive (6-14 overall, 5-7 CVAC) trailed by as many as five points in game one before Mitchell’s first ace of the match gave the Trojans a 23-22 lead. Alicia Mote helped spark a Trojan rally with five of her 11 kills in the game. Mount Olive built the lead to 26-24, but Stansbury’s kill on game point capped a 6-1 run and gave St. Andrews a one-game lead.

In the second game, Mitchell served one of her team-high three aces during a run of seven unanswered points as Mount Olive went ahead to stay at 13-8. St. Andrews (13-14, 6-5) pulled within three points, but could not get any closer. The Trojans led by as many as seven points and Anna-Marie Luft evened the match at one game apiece with an ace on game point.

Game three saw the two teams exchange the lead multiple times as both teams continually traded side outs. Kills by Mitchell and Luft helped keep the Trojans in the game, but Tara Lemieux took over down the stretch for St. Andrews, recording four kills in the Knights’ final six points of the game to give St. Andrews a 2-1 edge in games.

Mount Olive had to play from behind again throughout game four, trailing by as many as six points. After Luft’s kill tied the game at 26-26, the two teams traded side outs. St. Andrews served for the win at 29-28, but Racey Bartley’s kill after an extended rally kept the Trojans alive. St. Andrews got a side out to set up its second match point and Stansbury’s line drive serve went off the Trojan back row for the winner.

Luft recorded 13 of her 14 kills after game one and matched a career high with 16 digs. Nikki Murphy tallied a match-high 27 digs for the Trojans. Bartley added nine kills and a match-high seven blocks. Joanie Werling finished with 50 assists.

Lemieux led St. Andrews with 17 kills, while Stansbury finished with 16 kills and Galina Podolsky added 13 kills. Kim Harper tallied 54 assists and 21 digs, and shared match-high honors with Stansbury with four aces. Erin Haugen had a team-high 24 digs for the Knights.

St. Andrews plays host to conference co-leader Lees-McRae Friday at 6:30 p.m. It will be the first of two meetings between the Lady Knights and Lady Bobcats.