Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College women's volleyball team seemed destined for a post-season tournament win Saturday night after taking a 2-1 set lead with a dominating third frame, but Erskine College roared back to take a five-set victory from the Lady Bulldogs and advance in the Conference Carolinas Tournament.
The Flying Fleet (12-14) move on to face No. 1 seed Belmont Abbey following the 23-25, 25-18, 11-25, 25-19, 15-12 victory over Barton. The Lady Bulldogs ended their season at 14-14 after tying for third place in the league in the regular season with a 10-8 conference mark.
Junior Melissa Cochran had 12 kills and a career-high nine blocks to lead Barton in the loss. Junior Corinna Morton contributed a team-high 19 digs, and freshman Kaitlyn Micol collected a double-double of 10 kills and 12 digs. Junior Amanda Grandy had 17 digs and four aces, while freshman Alex Ward added 16 digs and three aces.
Tied at one set each, Barton used consecutive service aces by Ward to start a 9-0 run at the beginning of set three. Cochran had three consecutive kills during the spurt off assists from setter Amber Kelly, and the two teamed up for a block on another point.
The Bulldogs rolled to the 25-11 set win, and seemed to have all momentum in the match. However, Erskine's Allie Evans had other ideas. With the Fleet leading 6-5 in set four, the freshman from Frisco, Texas, produced a kill to give the Fleet a side out, then delivered five more kills in a span of seven points. Senior Anna Butrym finished off an 11-0 run for Erskine with a service ace that gave the Fleet a 17-5 advantage.
Trailing 18-6, Barton rolled off seven straight points with Morton on the service line to climb back within five, and the Lady Bulldogs got as close as three points at 22-19 following a Cochran kill. However, Caitlin Bullock had one of her match-high 13 kills to give Erskine a four-point cushion and a side out, and the Fleet used consecutive blocks by Megan Johnson and A.J. Campbell to close out the set.
Campbell had two more block assists and Kendall Kirk produced two service aces as Erskine raced out to a 6-1 lead in the decisive fifth set. Barton closed to within two points at 8-6 on a block by Jordan Lee and Brittany Edwards, but Erskine went on a 4-0 run that included kills by Campbell and Evans and another ace by Butrym to take a commanding 12-7 lead on their way to 15 points and the victory.
While not reaching its goal of a tournament title, Barton did show a five-game improvement in head coach Jeff Lennox's second season, and its third-place league finish was the best for the program since 2010.
