FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  Hosting a USA South Athletic Conference volleyball tri-match on Saturday at the Riddle Center, Methodist swept past visiting Mary Baldwin College, 3-0, in the early match and in the final match of the day, swept the first two games of a battle with conference unbeaten Meredith College.

The visiting Avenging Angels would get up off the deck, however, to win three straight, rallying for a 3-2 victory over the Monarchs while extending a win streak to 13.

JUST THE FACTS
Final scores: Methodist def. Mary Baldwin, 3-0 (25-5, 25-4, 25-16); Meredith def. Mary Baldwin, 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-9); Meredith def. Methodist, 3-2 (19-25, 13-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-11)
Records: Methodist 13-8 overall (7-6 USA South), Meredith 19-3 (14-0), Mary Baldwin 1-26 (0-14)
Location: Riddle Center; Fayetteville, N.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Methodist needed to battle from behind only one time in the match against Mary Baldwin, finally taking the lead for good in the third set with a solo block from Kendall Craig.
• The Monarchs finished with a 41-10 advantage in kills, connecting on 33 percent of their attacks while limiting the Fighting Squirrels to a negative attack percentage of -.083.
• Brittany Ter Meer and Jasmine Tapscott each notched nine kills in the match, but Methodist spread the wealth around with 10 players scoring at least one kill in the 63-minute victory.
• In sideout opportunities, Methodist was a perfect 10-for-10 in the opening two sets, and 9-for-17 in the concluding third. In contrast, Mary Baldwin converted just 17-of-73 sideout chances.
• The confidence built during the hour, though interrupted by the 57-minute Mary Baldwin and Meredith match, clearly transferred into the final match against Meredith.
• The Avenging Angels entered Saturday having surrendered three sets to conference opponents, one of those in a previous match against Methodist. The Monarch added two more to that total with their wins that opened the contest.
• During those first two games, the Monarchs attacked at a 32 percent success rate, completely dominating the second game without allowing even a tie score. Meredith was suffering through a nine percent attack rate in falling behind.
• Those percentages flipped during the third set as Meredith began to find the spots defensively that Methodist had been successfully attacking earlier, and began to find the open spots on the Monarchs' side of the court that it had missing in those two losses.
• The fourth game was pivotal in the match. The lead was exchanged three times, and the score was tied nine times. But the Angels broke away from that ninth deadlock, at 15-15, with a 4-0 run and never again trailed, taking the fourth set and the deciding fifth for the match victory.
• Tapscott totaled 20 kills on the day, eclipsing the 19 that Ter Meer and Megan Andrews accumulated to lead the Methodist attack.
• Methodist owned the edge in blocking through both matches, finishing a 4.0-1.0 advantage in the match against Mary Baldwin, and a 7.0-5-0 edge. Tapscott accounted for four of the day's 11 blocks.

BOXSCORE EXTRAS

• Milan Hunt accumulated six of Mary Baldwin's 10 kills during its match against Methodist.
• Caroline Corey totaled 19 kills for Meredith in its victory over the Monarchs. In that important fourth game that tied the match, Corey had six of her team's 18 kills.
• Riley Adair dropped in four service aces Saturday, but Andrews surpassed that figure with six in the opening match and one more in the Meredith match.
• The primary setter for the Monarchs, Lili Henry also came up with a season-best 17 digs in the opener against Mary Baldwin. Her career best is 22 from a match in her freshman season.

UP NEXT
Methodist celebrates Senior Night with its next match, a 7 p.m. contest Tuesday against visiting Averett University.