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Cao notches 20 kills as Spring Hill topples Lady Hawks
By Matt Green
MOBILE -- In a battle of two of the Southern States Athletic Conference's premier volleyball programs, it was Spring Hill College that managed to get the best of Shorter University.
Reigning SSAC West Division Player of the Year Yiting Cao tallied a match-high 20 kills as Spring Hill posted a 25-21, 25-20, 25-27, 25-20 victory over the Lady Hawks in each team's final match of an SSAC crossover event in Mobile, Ala.
Shorter (11-3, 2-1 SSAC) got 15 kills from Tori Bradley, 13 kills from Jessica Cooper and another 12 from Jasmine Crook, but Spring Hill, which eliminated Shorter in last year's SSAC Tournament semifinals, made it two-in-a-row against the Lady Hawks with a strong performance.
Jordan Corder had 47 assists and Tanequa Whitman had 20 digs for the Lady Hawks, who staved off a match point in the third set with three straight points -- two by way of kills from Bradley -- to cut the match deficit to 2-1 after the Badgers (15-0, 3-0) won the first two sets of the match.
Shorter won the third set 27-25 and held a 14-12 lead midway through the fourth set, but five straight points from Spring Hill -- four of which came on Shorter errors -- staked the Badgers a 17-14 lead and Spring Hill never trailed again in sealing the match with a 25-20 victory in the set.
Loren Olive had nine kills and 17 digs for Shorter. Crook added 15 digs to her stat line.
Shorter returns to the court on Tuesday, Sept. 20 when it travels across town to Mount Berry, Ga., for a showdown with rival Berry College at 7 pm.
