October 27, 2006

LAURINBURG, N.C.— The St. Andrews Presbyterian College volleyball team took one game from CVAC co-leader Limestone College but the visitors prevailed with a 3-1 (30-27, 23-30, 30-25, 30-23) victory in Harris Court during Friday’s ‘Senior Day’.

St. Andrews seniors Kim Harper (Boca Raton, Fla.), Jesi Bewley (Cincinnati, Ohio), and Lauren McManus (Raleigh, N.C.) where honored before the game for their four year contributions to the St. Andrews volleyball program. The trio combined for 61 overall wins and 42 CVAC victories in their career at SAPC.

The Lady Saints improved to 23-8 overall and 17-2 in the CVAC; while the Lady Knights fell to 18-17 and 11-8.

St. Andrews used the energy behind a large and loud crowd to take an early 7-3 advantage. The Knights built the lead to 22-15, before Limestone erased the deficit with a 9-2 run to tie everything at 24-24. The Lady Saints kept the energy and finished off the first frame 30-27.

Once again SAPC grabbed an early lead, doubling-up Limestone 10-5 in the second game. The Lady Knights maintained the same five-point cushion at 20-15 before pulling away. A Bewley kill finished off the second game, 30-23, to tie the match at one apiece.

In a close third, that featured 15 ties, Limestone finally broke a 21-21 deadlock with a 7-1 charge and pulled out the 30-25 win in the third to take command of the match. The Saints grabbed an early lead in the fourth game and put away the match with a 30-23 fourth set.

Sophomore Alison Hamilton (Purcellville, Va.) led Limestone with 36 assists and 18 digs. Senior Amber Wise (Brownsville, Texas) provided 19 kills and four assists while classmate Julie Oleson (Seattle, Wash.) had 17 digs. Junior Ashley Hubbard (Temple, Texas) and freshman Melissa Thomas (Easley, S.C.) had 12 and five blocks, respectively. Thomas also ripped 14 kills while Hubberd spiked five.

Bewley led the Knights offensively with 10 kills and a .320 hitting percentage. Harper posted 44 assists and 19 digs while McManus added 16 digs and four kills.

Juniors Lindsey Stansbury (Morgan City, La.) and Tara Lemieux (Panama City, Fla.) had 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Junior Erin Haugen (Fort Mill, S.C.) had a team-high 24 digs.

St. Andrews concludes the regular season tomorrow when they host CVAC foe Anderson University at 2:00 p.m. Limestone wraps up the CVAC portion of their season at Coker on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.