FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  Methodist volleyball nearly escaped from getting swept in Sunday's USA South Athletic Conference tri-match held in the March F. Riddle Center. The afternoon was started off with a back-and-forth contest between the Monarchs and Greensboro College, where the Pride edged out the match 3-2. Later Methodist was defeated by Meredith College in three straight sets.

JUST THE FACTS
Final scores: Greensboro def. Methodist, 3-2 (21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-13, 15-8); Meredith def. Methodist, 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 30-28)
Records: Methodist 7-8 (2-4 USA South), Greensboro 10-8 (5-1), Meredith 11-7 (4-2)
Location: March F. Riddle Center; Fayetteville, North Carolina

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Greensboro got out to an early 3-1 lead but it didn't take the Monarchs long to tie it up at 3-3. Then the set turned into a game of runs where whoever could get the longest run was more than likely going to take the set. Eventually a kill from Jeanana Fowler of Methodist sparked a six-point run to put the Monarchs up 21-17.
• A claiming the first set 25-21, it was Methodist this time that had an early advantage in the second game. Five consecutive points from the Pride in the early stages of the set got Greensboro back in this one. From there neither had more than a two-point lead until the Pride tallied the final three points to take the game 26-24.
•  The third set saw the Monarchs go up 9-4 thanks to a rally of six points with kills from Fowler and Geneva Barriger. Greensboro at one point managed to tie the set, at 11-11, but could not put themselves ahead of Methodist. A late four-point swing by the Monarchs was enough to keep the Pride at a distance before winning 25-22 in the set.
• After three close sets scores, Greensboro got the better of Methodist in the fourth game. Just like how the other started it was neck-and-neck all the way to a 5-5 score. The next 15 points witnessed the Pride sprinting out to a 18-7 advantage. This proved to be too much for the Monarchs to overcome as they dropped this set 25-13.
• The pivotal fifth game reverted back to how all the other sets were in scoring. A tightly contested set where Methodist was down 6-3 but battled back and took a 7-6 advantage. That was all the Monarchs could muster up in this one as Greensboro went on to score nine of the next ten points to win the set 15-8 and the match.
• Leann Sessoms helped Methodist jump out to a 7-3 lead in their first game against the Avenging Angels of Meredith. Then five straight Avenging Angel points put them up 8-7 before another wire to wire set ensued. After the Monarchs tied it up at 17-17, Meredith closed out the set on an 8-1 run.
• The second game between Methodist and the Avenging Angels saw the Monarchs down early but clawed their way back to within one point, 9-8. That was the closest Methodist got to the score as Meredith ran away with it afterwards, on their way to a 25-14 set win.
• In a thrilling third set, it could have gone either way for both teams. Fast forward to 15-15, the Avenging Angels tallied three straight points to go up 18-15 but a couple Meredith mistakes and two kills from Sessoms put the Monarchs in front 19-18. The teams went point-for-point at the end of this set before Meredith captured the final two points they need to win the match.

FACTS/FIGURES

• Barriger led the Monarchs with 28 kills from the two matches combined.
• The Methodist defense was put to work today as a total of 158 digs were accumulated. Two Monarchs finished with 40+ between the matches, Carrie Jordan (41) & Hannah Hewett (40).
• Moving up the all-time assists ladder in Methodist history was Hewett today. She now sits sixth with a career total of 1,811 following her 42 & 26 assist performances.

UP NEXT
Methodist has one day in between before returning to their home court against Pfeiffer University on Tuesday. This USA South match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.