Box Score by Kevin Buczek
DUE WEST, S.C.-Junior Melissa Cochran crushed a match-high 16 kills for visiting Barton College in a 3-1 Conference Carolinas women's volleyball loss to Erskine College in Belk Arena on Friday night.
The Lady Bulldogs won the first set 25-19 but the Flying Fleet rallied winning the next three frames by scores of 25-18, 25-15 and 27-25. Erskine improved to 4-11 overall and 3-5 in the league. Barton dipped to 6-8 and 5-3.
Cochran continued her quality play tallying double-digit spikes for an eighth straight contest. The Knightdale, N.C., product produced her 16 kills on 34 swings with just three errors to hit at a rate of .382.
Barton nearly forced a fifth set with a late comeback in the fourth but Erskine escaped the extended 27-25 set with the final three points. The Lady Bulldogs trailed late, 23-20, but used a 5-1 comeback to serve for the set. Barton's rally started with a kill by freshman Amber Kelly and followed by a pair of spikes by Cochran around EC's only point. A solo block by freshman Kaitlyn Micol knotted the scoreboard before another block by Kelly and sophomore Brittany Edwards gave Barton a chance to serve for set-point at 25-24. However, the Fleet followed with their own block to level the score for a final time. A kill by Marissa Greenough put the hosts ahead and a service ace by Kelly Sullivan ended the match.
Edwards assisted on a match- and season-best five blocks. Junior libero Corinna Morton lifted up a match-high 16 digs and classmate Amanda Grandy logged 11 digs and three aces. Kelly contributed 31 assists and nine digs. Micol followed Cochran with 11 kills and senior Jordan Lee chipped in five kills.
Caitlin Bullock matched Cochran with a team-high 16 kills for Erskine. Megan Johnson set up the Fleet offense with 37 assists and Anna Butrym anchored the hosts' defensive line with 14 digs. Sullivan's match-ending ace was her match-high fourth of the night.
Barton had a .300 hitting percentage in the first set to take the early lead with a dominating six-point win. The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-1 lead with a run that featured three kills by Cochran and two aces by Grandy.
Erskine responded by winning the first five points of the second set. Barton fought back to tie the period at 8-all but the Fleet used another 9-1 surge to pull ahead 17-9 before tying up the match with the seven-point win.
The Lady Bulldogs head the early advantage in the third including 5-3 on a block by Micol and Edwards. The score was tied at 8-8 when the Flying Fleet once again pulled away with a closing 17-7 run.
Erskine hit .355 in the second and .333 in the third to take over momentum of the match before hanging on in the fourth. The Fleet attacked with a final .242 hitting percentage while Barton cooled down to .174 after a hot-hitting first.
Barton next plays two matches at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C., on Saturday, Oct. 12. The Lady Bulldogs first play the host Crusaders in a Conference Carolinas clash at Noon before taking on Winston-Salem State University in a non-conference match at 2 p.m.
