Presbyterian Volleyball Falls to Gardner-Webb in Clinton

CLINTON, S.C. — Presbyterian College volleyball was one point away from a sweep on Saturday afternoon, but Gardner-Webb fought off two match points in the third set and came all the way back to win the match 3-2 at the Templeton Center in Clinton.

The loss left the Blue Hose with an 8-15 record, 2-7 against Big South opponents. Gardner-Webb moved to 15-9 and 5-4 in league play.

PC took the opener 25-19 and then dug out of a 10-4 hole in the second set, using a 6-0 burst to tie it at 12. The Blue Hose later turned away three straight Gardner-Webb set points, and one more at 25-24, before closing the set 27-25.

The third set went to extra points. PC had two chances to end the match there, but the Runnin’ Bulldogs held on and won the last three points to take it 30-28. Gardner-Webb ran away with the fourth set behind an 11-2 run in the middle of it.

In the deciding set, the visitors built a 10-6 lead. PC answered with four points in a row to get within 12-11 and saved two match points before Gardner-Webb finished it 15-13 on its third try.

Anisa Dorlouis came within one kill of a triple-double for Presbyterian, with a career-best 45 assists, 18 digs and nine kills, giving her 16 double-doubles this season. Celimar Hoyos set a career high with 34 digs, and Brittney Daphnis had a career-best seven blocks. Courtney Williams led the attack with a season-high 15 kills, while Julia Yurkovich and Ashley Miller had 11 each. Miller also had 12 digs for her second double-double of the year.

Emma Kerwin paced Gardner-Webb with 20 kills and three aces. Milla Lugo added 10 kills and six blocks and put away the final point, and Kiera Vasquez had 32 digs. The win was the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ second reverse sweep in two weeks and tied the program’s most wins in a season since it moved to Division I in 2000.

It was the second five-set match of the season for PC and its first in conference play. The Blue Hose go on the road next weekend to face High Point on Friday, Oct. 30, and Radford on Saturday, Oct. 31.

Filed under: Clinton SC Sports News