FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Meredith College outscored the Methodist women's lacrosse team, 8-1, in the first half on its way to a 15-7 victory over the Monarchs.
 
Meredith's Holly Hite scored three of her four goals in the first half as the Avenging Angels (6-1, 1-0 USA South) built a seven-goal lead by the break. Hite opened the scoring at 25:29, and Julie Capretti made it 2-0 at 24:28, and Carlee Joseph gave MC a 3-0 lead with 15:17 left in the first half after a feed from Hite.
 
The Monarchs (4-5, 1-1) got on the board with Emily Brennen's unassisted tally with 14:11 to pull within 3-1, but five goals by Meredith over the final 12:40 gave MC the aforementioned 8-1 lead.
 
In the second half, the Monarchs scored four of the first six goals recorded to pull within 10-5 on Emily Ewin's first-career goal with 12:00 to play. The Avenging Angels answered with back-to-back tallies to go up 12-5 by the 8:57 mark and MU was unable to pull any closer the remainder of the way.
 
Meredith held a 27-15 edge in shots and a 15-9 advantage in draw controls. The Avenging Angels also had 17 ground balls to 13 for the Monarchs and MU turned the ball over 17 times to 13 for Meredith.
 
Janelle Gant played all 60:00 in the cage for the Monarchs and made seven saves with 15 goals allowed. Haley Whitfield started between the pipes for Meredith and made two saves with one goal allowed. Sydney Hardee played the final 30:00 for the Avenging Angels and made one save with six goals allowed.
 
Offensively, the Monarchs were led by Brennen's three points on a pair of goals and one assist. Monti Hendrix scored twice and added three draw controls, while Renee Burt had an assist and three ground balls. Sarena Pillow caused three turnovers and added a pair of ground balls.
 
Meredith was led by four goals apiece from Hite, Jennifer Halvorson and Julie Capretti. Hite and Halvorson each added an assist. Sarah Arbes came away with five draw controls, and Hite and Jordyn King each collected four. Alyssa Codispoti added three caused turnovers and a pair of ground balls.
 
The Monarchs are back in action on Saturday when they play host to Lycoming at 12:00 pm.