FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  It was a home sweep for Methodist volleyball Wednesday evening as the Monarchs battled to a 3-0 USA South Athletic Conference victory over visiting Pfeiffer University.

Megan Andrews led the attack for Methodist with a match-high 11 kills, but Jasmine Tapscott and Brittany Ter Meer were right behind with nine each.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Methodist def. Pfeiffer, 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-16)
Records: Methodist 12-7 overall (6-5 USA South), Pfeiffer 8-14 (4-7)
Location: Riddle Center; Fayetteville, N.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Methodist led for the majority of the match, needing to rally from behind on just two occasions -- at 7-3 in the second set, and at 2-1 in the third.
• Pfeiffer never really let the Monarchs pull away too far, though, other than in the deciding third set.
• Leading from start to finish in the match opener, Methodist broke open a tight game during the middle of the set beginning with a Tapscott kill at 11-9. By the time a 7-0 run ended, Tapscott had accumulated three kills and a block assist, Jamie Jones collected a kill and earned the other assist on the block, Erica East added a kill and Lili Henry dropped in a service ace.
• Ter Meer closed the door with a kill to end that first set.
• Methodist jumped in front early in the second, but the Falcons put together a run of their own to leap into that 7-3 lead.
• Narrowing the gap, the Monarchs finally moved in front for good with Maddie Barga accumulating four service aces in a row to lift the home team in front, 13-11, a point from which it never again trailed.
• Facing defeat, the Falcons tried to rally and inched in front 2-1 early in the third, only to surrender the lead for the last time on Methodist's 5-0 run. For every point Pfeiffer would notch after that, the Monarchs would answer with two or three or four in a row, finally finishing off the match victory on a Ter Meer kill.
• Methodist more than doubled the Falcons in service aces, scoring 12 on the night to only five by the visitors.
• The Monarchs doubled Pfeiffer at the net defensively, finishing with 4.0 blocks -- 2.0 from Tapscott -- to only 2.0 blocks by the Falcons.

OUTSIDE THE BOX

• Wednesday night was Breast Cancer Awareness Night at the Riddle Center. The Monarchs collected donations that will be passed along to Friends of Cancer Center of Cape Fear Valley in Fayetteville.
• Pfeiffer, which joined the conference in 2017, is 0-5 against the Monarchs, suffering season sweeps both in 2018 and 2017, and in a non-conference match in 2016 before it became a league member.
• Tapscott's 145 kills this season is more than her totals from 2017 and 2016…combined.
• Ter Meer's 3.18 kills per set this season is a career best.
• In her second season in the program, Andrews has already set single-season career highs in kills, assists, service aces, digs and points.
• Also in just her second season, Henry is putting up extraordinary numbers in set assists, propping up 583 for her attackers this season which is third most in the league. Her rate of 8.83 assists per set leads the conference.

NEXT UP

• Methodist hosts a USA South tri-match Saturday, taking on Mary Baldwin College in the noon opener, and finishing the afternoon's matches off with a battle against USA South East Division leader Meredith College.
• Pfeiffer hosts William Peace College and Averett University in a league tri-match Saturday.