Hitting Duo Leads Statesmen Past Lady Flyers

The decibel level was as high as it has been in the Hangar this season as the Sandhills Community College volleyball team won Wednesday's opening set against Richard Bland CC.

But the Lady Flyers ran into a buzz saw in outside hitters Ayanna Swan and Emma Lazerson who combined for 45 of their team's 53 kills in a 25-22, 16-25, 22-25 and 21-25 loss to the Division I squad from Petersburg, VA.

The Flyers dropped to 7-8 with their second loss of the season to the now 4-6 Statesmen.

With members of the basketball team leading the cheers, the first set was tied 11 times before kills by Elyria Hackney and Carley Modlin provided the final two points.

"The energy was high and the crowd was definitely into it," Flyers' Coach Alicia Riggan said. "I thought we backed off a little bit in the second set, but then in the third and fourth sets I thought we'd be going to a fifth."

The Statesmen never trailed in the second set and then held on to take a 2-1 lead by winning the closely contested third. Trailing 13-10 in the fourth, the Flyers made a strong bid to extend the match.

A win at the net by Khalie Jones, and a flick into space by Camryn Lowe, tied it at 13-13. Later a kill by Alexus McCrimmon gave the Flyers an 18-16 lead. A wicked smash by Morrigan Denman made it 20-17 before the visitors took control by reeling off the next six points in a row.

"Being up 20-17 you can't let balls drop and overpass," Riggan said. "I want to play teams like this and I want to see us compete whether it's a Division I or a Division III school. It was a good experience for the girls, but unfortunately we didn't come out on the winning side."

The 6-foot-2 Swan was a High School All-American before playing at Ohio State in 2017. Her 26 kills came on 32 attacks. Lazerson finished with 19 kills.

Leading the home team in the hitting department were Denman with 12 kills and Carley Modlin with 10. Camryn Lowe was credited with 20 assists and Willow Williams had 15 digs.

The Lady Flyers are idle until next Tuesday when they travel to Charlotte to meet Johnson and Wales. The next home date is a doubleheader on September 28. The Flyers will play Patrick Henry CC at 11 a.m. and Davidson County CC at 3 p.m.

C. Bergmann