Box Score by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-Junior outside hitter Meredith Watkins drilled a match-high 10 kills to lead Barton College to a 25-15, 25-17, 25-12 Conference Carolinas women's volleyball victory over visiting St. Andrews Presbyterian College in the Bulldogs home opener Wednesday evening in the Dog House.
Barton evened its overall record at 5-5 while picking up its first league to improve to 1-2 in front of a large and loud home crowd. The Knights dropped to 2-10, 0-5.
"It was nice to play at home," said Barton first year head coach Jim Freeman. "Everybody really pitched in and helped make it a good evening. We had a great crowd. The kids really liked being able to play at home. It was fun!"
Watkins, from Oxford, N.C., recorded her season-high 10 kills on 17 attempts while only committing one error for a staggering .529 hitting percentage. Junior Kati Wood (Pasadena, Md.) added seven kills at a .231 clip as Barton hit .200 for the match.
"We always try to play a controlled game and we had stretches where we did that," commented Coach Freeman. "We had some stretches where we make too many errors but I thought Meredith Watkins and Kati Wood really stood out tonight. I also thought we did a really good job blocking tonight."
Junior middle blocker ShanaeWinston (Wendell, N.C.) notched six block assists as Barton totaled 9.0 team blocks compared to zero by St. Andrews. Sophomore Jordan Lee (Wilson, N.C.) added four block assists.
Lee had three of her four kills in the first set and SAPC was held to a negative .083 hitting percentage as Barton rolled to the 10-point win. St. Andrews jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set but Barton rallied back on the strength of Watkins arm that consisted of five kills. The Bulldogs completed the sweep with a dominating third set that featured two of Woods' match-high four aces and a balanced attack.
BC freshman setter Meka Hoover (Seagrove, N.C.) produced 16 assists, six digs and three aces. Classmate Amanda Grandy (Rolesville, N.C.) had a team-high 12 digs and Woods scooped up eight.
Freshman Celia Duggan (Lugoff, S.C.) and junior Stephanie Lombardo (Winterville, N.C.) led the Knights with six kills apiece. Junior Amanda VanKleeck (Orange City, Fla.) tallied 12 digs and sophomore Megan Nelson (Edmonds, Wash.) chipped in 11 assists and 10 digs.
Freeman concluded, "We feel good about every win we get and tonight was no exception. St. Andrews really competed hard and they will be fine. It is tough to come off a year where you did not play. Starting from scratch is not easy."
