Blue Hose Volleyball Fall to Newberry in Conference Opener
NEWBERRY, S.C. – The Lady Indians of Newberry College opened up South Atlantic Conference volleyball play with a 3-1 victory over the defending SAC Champions, Presbyterian College, on Tuesday night in Eleazer Arena. Newberry posted game scores of 30-21, 27-30, 30-22, 30-23.
In the first game, the Blue Hose played catch-up as Newberry jumped out an 11-1 lead. Freshman Julie Hollrah (Glenwood, Md.) helped PC cut the lead to 12-6 as Hollrah served four straight points. However, the Lady Indians would continue to pull away and led by either nine or 10 points on seven different occasions.
The second game went to the Blue Hose but not without a fight from Newberry. Both teams traded points throughout a majority of the game before PC posted a 25-21 margin. The Lady Indians came within one point (27-26) but the Blue Hose held on for the win.
The third and fourth games were all Newberry as PC was unable to keep the momentum from its second game victory in its favor. The Lady Indians began game three on a 3-0 run and never relinquished their lead for the remainder of the game. Although the Blue Hose were able to put together a 5-2 run at the start of the fourth game, PC could not subdue Newberry and came up with the short end of the stick.
Freshman Lorena Maia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) was the Lady Indians’ key attacker with 18 kills, while senior Jessica Lipsi (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and junior Laurie Barman (Madison, Wisc.) each added 12. Lipsi also served up six aces. Junior Christy Stegall (Fort Mill, S.C.) helped out defensively with 24 digs and junior Cara Coleman (Allentown, Pa.) chipped in 11 kills.
For the Blue Hose, junior Lauren Mason (Peachtree City, Ga.) recorded her seventh double-double of the season with a game-high 21 kills and 11 digs. Defensively, junior Jodi Palmer (Plain City, Ohio) matched her senior high with 23 digs.
Newberry returns to action this weekend as the Lady Indians compete in the Charleston Southern University Invitational on Sept. 8-9. Presbyterian will look to get back in the win column as the Blue Hose take part in the Armstrong Atlantic State University/Chatham Orthopaedics Classic this weekend on Sept. 8-9. The Blue Hose will open up tournament play with the host, Armstrong Atlantic State, at 1 p.m. on Friday.