For immediate release – 10/25/2014 - #117
Hornets Sweep Tri-Match on Senior Day

LYNCHBURG, VA – The Lynchburg College volleyball team honored its two seniors by defeating both Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) rival Shenandoah University and non-conference foe Catholic University of America on Saturday.  The Hornets honored Aricquel Payne and Brittany Crawford before the events of the day in Turner Gymnasium.

In the first match of the day, the Lynchburg Hornets beat the Shenandoah Hornets 3-1, 25-15, 25-15, 18-25, and 25-22.  The story of the match was the hitting percentage, as LC held a higher percentage in each game except the third, in which SU won. 

In the first set, Shenandoah kept it close through the first six points as the score was knotted at three.  It was at that point that Payne took over, hitting five kills over the next 10 points, which pushed the Lynchburg lead to 10-6.  SU came back and cut the lead to as low as one, but a five-point run which contained another kill by Payne and an ace by Jennifer Garrett gave LC a lead they would not relinquish.

In the second, Lynchburg came out and hit at an impressive .485 percentage.  Shenandoah did not fare as well, only notching a .121 clip. Sierra Strathy led the way with seven kills in the game. 

Shenandoah took control early in the third, coming out to a quick 8-3 lead, as it would be stretched to nine later in the match.  Lynchburg made a valiant attempt to come back, going on a five-point run, with two kills coming from Payne and Mackenzie Ross apiece, but it would not be enough, as SU would take the set.

The final set proved to be trouble for Lynchburg as well.  The game was all tied at 13 before LC ripped off six points in a row.  Payne once again was a catalyst, notching two kills in the streak.  SU would not go quietly and stormed back with five of the next six points, cutting the LC advantage to two.  Two errors and a Garrett kill pushed the lead back to five.  While Shenandoah gave Lynchburg a scare, LC won the game, and the match, on an Amanda Perry kill.

Rachel Gross led SU (14-11 overall, 3-6 ODAC) with 11 kills in the match.  Payne paced LC with 18 kills, while Ross added 32 assists in the first game of the afternoon.

In the finale of the tri-match, LC took down the Catholic University of America 25-10, 25-11, and 25-14, hitting at a very high percentage (.369) once again.

CUA earned the first point of the match, but the Hornets followed with six straight, including two kills by Amanda Perry.  The rest of the game proved to be very similar as the start, as Lynchburg only had three first serves that saw the Cardinals take points.

The second set followed the same story as the first, with Lynchburg dominating for long stretches of the game.  Catholic kept it close early on, going on a three-point run to answer a four-point streak of the Hornets, to put the score at 6-5 LC.  It was at that point that LC scored eight of the following nine points, with Payne killing two passes from Ross and one from Lynn Walsh, to take a commanding 14-6 advantage.  It would get no closer than five the rest of the way, and in fitting action, Payne ended the set with a kill that capped a six-zero scoring run.

The final set of the day started off with a little run by CUA which put them ahead 4-2.  Catholic's lead lasted a short time as Lynchburg rattled off four-straight, with Payne once again contributing two kills.  The Cardinals kept it close for most of the match, keeping it tight at 13-10 Hornets.  LC ended any doubt in the outcome of the match over the next several points as Lynchburg scored seven straight.  Strathy, Ross, and Garrett all had kills during the run.  Both teams went back and forth until the score was 23-14.  In fitting style, Payne notched a kill to put Lynchburg at match-point and ended it with an ace.

Michelle Seals had 10 assists for CUA (21-11) in a match where the Cardinals had 22 attacking errors.  Payne once again was the top producer, finishing with 16 kills in the match.  Ross and Walsh combined for 40 assists in the nightcap.

Lynchburg (15-11 overall, 7-3 ODAC) close out its ODAC regular season schedule on Wednesday night.  The Hornets will head across town for an important clash with Randolph College.  Action starts at 5 p.m. 

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