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Farreira, No. 4 Lee deals Shorter Volleyball first defeat
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Lee University’s Arlene
Farreira led four players in double-digit kills with 16 to help the
No. 4-ranked Lady Flames to a 25-9, 25-22, 23-25, 25-13 victory
over Shorter University in each team’s first Southern States
Athletic Conference East Division match.
Christa Hutchison (12 kills), Valquiria Cabocio (11) and Stephanie Todd (10) all posted at least 10 kills as Lee, the two-time defending SSAC Tournament champions, improved to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the SSAC East.
Shorter (4-1, 0-1 SSAC East) lost for the first time in 2010 and for the eighth consecutive time to the Lady Flames, who improve to 16-2 all-time against the Lady Hawks. Lee’s last loss to Shorter came in the semifinals of the 2007 SSAC Tournament. The two southern volleyball powerhouses have met for the last two SSAC Tournament championships.
Ashley Walton registered a team-high nine kills and Jordan Corder chipped in with 19 assists and a team-high 13 digs for the Lady Hawks, who entered Wednesday night’s contest with a 4-0 record for the first time under head coach Jon Moseley.
Lee, which reached the Final Four of the 2009 NAIA Volleyball National Championship, set the tone early with a dominating first game in which it used an early 8-0 run to turn a narrow 3-2 lead into an 11-2 cushion. The Lady Flames pushed their advantage to 18-3 en route to an easy opening game win.
Shorter surrendered a 16-15 lead in a game two loss, but bounced back to win game three and extend the match.
The Lady Hawks led 17-11 in the third set before Lee embarked on an 11-5 run to knot the game at 22. A kill from Walton broke the tie, Loni Beth Jones followed with a service ace for a 24-22 Shorter edge and Loren Olive notched the game winner two points later to draw the visitors to within 2-1 in the match.
But Lee was up to the challenge and responded with a 7-1 run to open the fourth set. Shorter never managed to get closer than five points in the decisive fourth.
Olive finished with seven kills, 13 digs and a pair of assists. Katie Van Hofwegen had 10 digs and Maggie Parker added seven kills for the Lady Hawks, who next take the floor in their home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 7 against Reinhardt University in a 7 p.m. match.
