Women's Volleyball | 10/28/2009 9:09:49 PM

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - N.C. Wesleyan took a 2-0 lead over the Methodist volleyball team, but the Monarchs came and tied it up at two sets a piece. The fifth set was a battle, but the Bishops slipped by 2-3 (16-25, 17-25, 25-17, 25-23, 13-15).

Prior to the match, the Monarchs recognized six seniors on the team. Allison Averitt, Kelsey Carter, Taylor Cates, Laura Gilbert, Jordan Grady and Kelly Shipkowski were honored for their dedication and commitment to the Methodist volleyball program over the past four years.

The first set was tied early at seven, and again at 13, but the Bishops (20-10, 14-2) went on a 3-12 run to clinch the victory at 16-25. N.C. Wesleyan took the early lead in the second set, but Methodist (16-10, 8-8) came back and moved within one at 4-5. The Bishops pulled away and finished with the 17-25 win.

Methodist came out firing in the third set and jumped out to the early 13-4 lead after two aces from Kayci Miller and a kill from Jalesty Washington. N.C. Wesleyan tried to make a late run, but the Monarchs held them off for the 25-17 win.

The fourth set was back and forth with both teams exchanging the lead midway through the match but Methodist went on a run with back to back kills from Hayley Williams to earn a 21-14 lead. The Bishops came back and tied it at 22, but Washington finished with the final three kills to help the Monarchs to a 25-23 win.

Methodist scored the first two points of the fifth set, but N.C. Wesleyan moved ahead 4-8. Methodist came back and tied it up at nine and 10, before N.c. Wesleyan went up 10-12 and Methodist called a timeout. The Bishops had match point at 12-14 but Stephanie Wood scored the kill to keep the Monarchs alive. N.C. Wesleyan came back and finished with a kill to earn the 13-15 win.

Four Monarchs finished with double-digit kills in the match. Wood paced the team with 14 kills while Washington added 13 and Averitt had 11. Williams had a career-high 12 kills. Miller dished out 52 assists and Grady had 19 digs. Rachel Evans and Kelsey Yates had 13 digs a piece while Miller added 12.

The Monarchs will take the road this weekend to finish the regular season at Mary Baldwin against the Squirrels and Peace Pacers.

Box Score