Lady Flyers Take Care of Business in Virginia

The Sandhills Community College volleyball team arrived in Martinsville, VA at 9:45 on Saturday morning.  The Lady Flyers departed Patrick Henry CC's Stone Hall about five hours later with a pair of Region 10 conference victories.

Coach Alicia Riggan's squad swept the hosts 25-19, 25-11 and 25-17 in the opener of the tri-match. Then they defeated Rockingham CC 25-7, 25-13 and 25-11.

The Flyers improved to 5-0 in the conference and 12-5 overall. A stretch of six road dates in a row continues with a 6 p.m. non-conference match at Davidson-Davie CC on Tuesday.

Following a closely-contested first set against Patrick Henry, Shelby Hull was on the service line to start the second as middle hitter KeKe Lawrence contributed five kills on the way to an early 9-0 lead.

Later an ace by Camryn Lowe increased the margin to an almost insurmountable 14-1. The Lady Flyers remained in control throughout the rest of the match.

Lawrence finished with 12 kills on 19 attacks and four solo blocks. Lowe was credited with 17 assists. Lexi Allen was the leader in digs with 13.

Meeting Rockingham for the second time this season, the first two of Lowe's six service aces, helped the Flyers take a 10-0 first-set lead. They trailed only briefly in the second before wrapping up their fifth sweep of a conference foe in a row.

A team season-high 15 service aces, against only three service errors, also included five by Kaitlyn Locklear, a pair by L'Asia Jackson and one by Hull.

Allen led the way in kills with 10 followed by Maddie Harris with an efficient seven on just 10 attacks. Lowe and Locklear were each credited with 13 assists.

Rockingham CC, 2-2 conference, 3-8 overall, swept Patrick Henry CC, 0-8, 0-3, in the final match of the day.  Sandhills is the only team in the conference, that also includes Central Carolina CC and Southwest Virginia CC, that does not have a conference loss.

NJCAA Division III statistics through Saturday show Lawrence as the national leader in block solos for the season with 44 and second in block total with 53. Jackson is third nationally with 45 service aces and the Flyers as a team are sixth in that category.

C. Bergmann