Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C.-Seniors Meredith Watkins and Kati Wood along with sophomore Jillian Sherman all notched 10-plus points to help pace the Barton College women's volleyball team to a 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 sweep of Conference Carolinas rival Mount Olive College on Wednesday in Kornegay Arena.
The Lady Bulldogs (7-14 Overall, 4-8 Conf.) hit a season-best .316 en route to the squads third consecutive victory while snapping a three-match home win streak for the Trojans (8-13, 4-8).
Wood led all players with 12 kills for Barton, while Cochran had 11 kills and only one error for a .500 hitting percentage. Grandy finished with 38 assists and shared match-high honors with three aces. Sherman led the Lady Bulldogs defensively with 12 digs.
Mount Olive rallied from a 20-16 deficit in the first set as kills by Robertson, Dezirae Mackey and Ashlee Reuter pulled the Trojans within a point. Barton halted the Trojans' run with a kill by Cochran and Watkins served out the set, recording an ace on set point.
Barton used Grandy's service run to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the second set and the Bulldogs led for the entire set. Another ace by Watkins gave Barton its biggest lead at 22-14 before Mackey keyed a rally for Mount Olive. Mackey recorded solo blocks on back-to-back points and served one of her team-high three aces to pull the Trojans within 23-20. But after a side out by Barton, Grandy served an ace on set point to give the Bulldogs a two-set lead.
Mount Olive setter Nicole Karas sparked a rally in the third set, combining with Carly White on a pair of blocks and serving an ace during a 7-1 run to give the Trojans their biggest lead of the night at 12-8. Barton scored the next five points to regain the lead and Watkins' kill broke a 15-15 tie to put the Bulldogs ahead to stay. Barton outscored Mount Olive 11-1 to end the match.
The victory completed a season series sweep for the Lady Bulldogs against Mount Olive.
White finished with seven kills for Mount Olive, while Reuter and Danielle Plante added six kills apiece. Karas recorded 30 assists and Nicole Sparks finished with 16 digs. Mackey had a team-high three blocks.
Barton will wrap up the non-conference portion of its schedule at Southeast Region foe Francis Marion University on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
NOTE: Special thanks to Mount Olive sports information for contributing portions of the release.
