Lady Flyers Ride First Set Comeback into Sweep of the Lancers

The Sandhills Community College volleyball team overcame five match-points during a first set thriller, before going on to defeat Lenior CC 28-26, 25-11 and 25-13 on Monday at The Hangar.

Two kills by KeKe Lawrence, and one by Lexi Allen for the final point, helped the Lady Flyers work out of the predicament. They improved to 9-4 with their seventh win in a row.

The Lancers dropped to 6-11 with their second loss to the Flyers this season.

"I thought like on Saturday, the composure seemed to be there when they (Lancers) had game-points," Coach Alicia Riggan said. "We seemed to be determined that no ball was going to hit the floor."

The Lady Flyers entertain the second of three Division II foes in as many days, when USC Lancaster (9-10) provides the opposition in a 6 p.m. start on Tuesday. Members of the Aberdeen Parks and Recreation volleyball teams will be guests of the Flyers.  They face Fayetteville Tech (9-2) on Wednesday.

Monday's first set was tied 13 times, and the two teams were never more than three points apart. Trailing 24-21, the home team got a big boost from its fans, including a cheering section made up of members of the men's basketball team.

"I'm super-excited about their support," Riggan said. "I think having the guys there, and being excited about what we were doing, definitely helped push us through the first set."

The home team never trailed again, jumping out to a 10-4 lead in the second set and 8-1 in the third. Camryn Lowe (2), Shelby Hull (2), Lawrence and Allen all had service aces during the closing set.

"It was awesome to see them down and come back," the coach said of her team.  "In the second and third sets I thought we were in control the whole time."

In a balanced effort statistically, Allen led with six kills followed by Maddie Harris with five and Lawrence, Mya Mallard and Savanna Lowery with four each.

Lowe was the assist leader with 14 to go with four service aces.  Allen and Abby Quick were each credited with a team-high 11 digs. Lawrence added three more solo blocks to her No. 2 in NJCAA Division III total.

The Flyers survived Monday's first set in spite of 18 unforced errors before tightening up in the next two. They defeated USC Lancaster 3-0 during a tri-match in Charlotte on September 11.

"We've got to lock down," Riggan said, looking ahead to two tough opponents. "We can't have the unforced errors we had tonight. We've beaten USC Lancaster before, but they are a really sound program with some good hitters."

Faces in the crowd on Monday included former Flyers Alexus McCrimmon and Khaile Jones from last season's team, and Kaitlyn Lisenby and Tee'Ashia Lilly from the 2018 squad that finished 24-5, carrying a 19-match winning streak into the post season.

During a ceremony held at Felton J. Capel Arena last Friday, Lilly received a ring as a member of the 2019 CIAA Champion Fayetteville State team.  

C. Bergmann