Women's Volleyball | 9/28/2010 9:01:12 PM

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - It was a highly contested match between Methodist and N.C. Wesleyan volleyball, but the Monarchs came up short 1-3 (24-26, 24-26, 26-24, 18-25).

Methodist (7-9, 3-6) opened up with the 10-5 lead and maintained the 18-13 lead before the Bishops (8-7, 5-2) went on a 9-2 run to take the lead. The Monarchs tied the match at 24 before N.C. Wesleyan finished with back-to-back kills to take the win.

The Bishops led early in the second set, but Methodist capitalized on Bishop errors to move within one at 18-19. Methodist's Lauren Bramble earned a kill to tie the set at 23 and Morgan Hauck's kill tied it up at 24 but the Bishops finished with the 24-26 win again.

Roles reversed in the third set with Methodist jumping out to the 20-9 lead after a kill from Stephanie Wood. N.C. Wesleyan rallied with a 12-3 run to tie the set at 23. With the score tied again at 24, Wood and Bramble finished with kills to keep Methodist alive.

N.C. Wesleyan held the early advantage in the fourth set, but Methodist tied it again at 10. The Bishops capitalized on the Monarchs' errors and earned key kills late to earn the 18-25 win.

Wood led the Monarchs with 15 kills while Washington added 12 and Bramble finished with 11. Kayci Miller had 48 assists and Hillary McPhatter paced the team with 24 digs.

The Monarchs will take the road on Friday to face Ferrum and Christopher Newport in Ferrum, Va.

Box Score