Busch posts season-high 29 kills at Anderson

Published in Sports on October 9, 2005 2:07 AM

• Print
• Email

ANDERSON, S.C. -- Senior outside hitter Heidi Busch led four players in double figures with a season-high 29 kills as regionally-ranked Mount Olive College remained unbeaten with a 30-22, 27-30, 31-29, 30-22 victory over Anderson College on Saturday afternoon.

Busch jumped three spots to No. 16 on the NCAA II volleyball all-time kills list with 2,158 career kills. Busch is eight kills away from moving into the top 15 all-time.

The visiting Trojans (15-3) remained unbeaten in 10 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference matches heading into today's contest at Converse (S.C.) College. Mount Olive, ranked No. 8 in the first Atlantic Region poll of the season, escaped the All-Stars in five games in their last meeting.

Mount Olive jumped out to a 9-0 lead in game one and never looked back on its way to a 1-0 lead in the match. Anderson (10-12, 5-4) never trailed in the second game to tie the match at one game apiece.

Anderson led 29-26 in game three, but Mount Olive fought off three game points and scored the final five points overall to take a 2-1 lead. In the fourth and final game, Mount Olive snapped a tie at 19 with an 11-3 run to close out the match.

Sam Mitchell added 13 kills and Colby Mangum and Anna Luft had 11 apiece for Mount Olive. Sara Christie had 55 assists, while Nikki Murphy led the Mount Olive defense with 12 digs.

Anderson was led by Laura Tye and Leanna Willis with 11 kills apiece. Mandie Stewart led Anderson's defense with 18 digs.

Fitzmaurice paces MOC

CHARLOTTE -- Erik Small's first-half penalty kick tied the match and Brian Fitzmaurice scored the game-winner in the 65th minute as nationally-ranked Mount Olive defeated Queens 2-1 in their Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference men's soccer match Saturday afternoon.

The win snapped Mount Olive's three-match losing skid as the Trojans handed Queens its first regular-season conference loss since 2001.

Mount Olive (9-3-1 overall, 5-1-0 CVAC) had a chance for an early lead, but missed on a direct kick from just outside of the box. Queens (8-3-0, 6-1-0) took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute on Demetrius Donald's free kick from 20 yards out.

The Trojans evened the match nine minutes later when Small converted a penalty kick at the 28:37 mark. The two teams went into halftime tied 1-1.

The match remained tied 20 minutes into the second half until the Trojans capitalized on a corner kick for the go-ahead goal. Bobby Allen served the corner kick to Matt Hobbs, who flicked to Fitzmaurice at the far post for the goal. The Trojans held on for the win, despite being outshot 17-8. Goalkeeper Chris Roush recorded five saves for Mount Olive.

The win is Mount Olive's first ever over Queens in men's soccer. The Trojans advanced past Queens in last year's CVAC Tournament semifinals on a penalty kick shootout, but the match was officially recorded as a tie. Queens entered Saturday's match 40-0-1 in its last 41 regular-season CVAC contests.

Both teams entered Saturday's match ranked in the NSCAA/Adidas Division II Southeast Region Top 10. Mount Olive is No. 3 in the region and Queens is No. 6.

Mount Olive returns to action Wednesday as the Trojans head to Murfreesboro to take on Chowan in a non-conference match at 4 p.m.

Duo leads Trojans

CHARLOTTE -- Gina Dos Santos tied the match in the 72nd minute and Jessica Smoot scored the game-winner six minutes later as Mount Olive defeated Queens 3-2 in their Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference women's soccer match Saturday afternoon.

The win is the Trojans' sixth in their last seven matches.

Mount Olive (10-5-0 overall, 6-1-0 CVAC) got on the scoreboard first as Emily Escolas scored in the 13th minute off a service by Kristine Gallagher. The Trojans outshot Queens 8-5 in the first half, but the score remained 1-0 going into halftime. Mount Olive goalkeeper Heather Ulep recorded four saves in the first half, while Queens keeper Megan Mueller had five saves.

Queens (5-6-1, 3-4-0) evened the match four minutes into the second half on a goal by Tamara Diaz-Matosis. The Royals took their first lead at the 67:25 mark when Kari Byzewski's penalty kick put Queens on top 2-1.

Mount Olive answered less than four minutes later as Dos Santos scored her conference-leading 16th goal of the season to tie the match 2-2. The Trojans went ahead to stay at the 77:34 mark when Smoot captured the ball at midfield, dribbled to the top of the box and scored from 20 yards out.

The Trojans and the Royals had eight shots apiece in the second half. Ulep finished the match with nine saves, while Mueller recorded eight saves.

Mount Olive is off until Saturday when the Trojans play host to Belmont Abbey in CVAC action. Match time is 1 p.m. at Trojan Field. Queens travels to Lees-McRae Wednesday at 5 p.m. in CVAC action.