Trojan spikers flush Royals, advance in CVAC Tournament play

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on October 31, 2006 1:47 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Joanie Werling's service run late in game three helped erase a five-point deficit and Sam Mitchell tallied her 13th kill of the contest on match point as No. 7 seed Mount Olive defeated No. 10 seed Queens 30-21, 30-21, 32-30 in the first round of the 2006 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Volleyball Tournament Monday at Kornegay Arena. With the win, Mount Olive advances to the quarterfinal round Friday against No. 2 seed Limestone.

Mount Olive (10-19) broke open a close game to take a 17-10 lead in game one. Queens (2-26) rallied to pull within three, but the Trojans pulled away as Nikki Murphy's ace on game point gave the Trojans the nine-point win. Game two stayed close until Mitchell's ace sparked an 11-4 run to give the Trojans a 24-15 lead and Queens never got any closer than six points the rest of the way.

Queens overcame a 3-0 deficit in game three as Ashley Davis came off the bench to serve an ace and spark an 8-2 run. The Royals held leads of 27-22 and 28-24, but after a Trojan side out, Werling went on a four-point service run to give Mount Olive a 29-28 lead and match point. Queens would fight off two match points, but Anna-Marie Luft's kill broke a 30-30 tie and Mitchell's kill put the Trojans in the quarterfinal round.

"We didn't want to go to a fourth game, so we decided we needed to get the job done now," said Werling, a freshman setter from Purcellevile, Va.

Werling finished with 34 assists and one ace, while Mallory Peavler served two of Mount Olive's seven aces. Luft finished with 10 kills for the Trojans and Racey Bartley added eight kills. Mitchell tallied a team-high 10 digs for her 22nd double-double of the season.

Laleh Threeths led Queens with 12 kills, while Keatin McKenzie added 11 kills. Dee Dee Matthews tallied seven kills and a match-high four blocks for the Royals. Ebony Turner recorded 37 digs, the highest single-match total by any Mount Olive opponent this season.