Box Score by Benny Benton
FLORENCE, S.C. – Despite a season-high 26 digs from senior libero Amanda Grandy, the Barton College women's volleyball team dropped a straight-set decision to host Francis Marion University Tuesday night at the Smith University Center, 25-21, 25-20, 27-25.
The 26 digs were the most for Grandy since her freshman season in 2011 and her highest total ever in a three-set match.
Senior Melissa Cochran paced the offense with 11 kills and freshman Riley Bane added a double-double of 24 assists and 12 digs for the Lady Bulldogs (7-11).
However, it was not enough to overcome a dominating performance by Francis Marion's Alexzandra Reed, who hammered home 13 consecutive kills without an error over the first two sets before a miscue on the next-to-last point of the frame.
Reed, a junior from Mission Viejo, Calif., who ranks among the top 10 nationally in attempts, finished the night with 17 spikes and three errors on 37 attacks (.378 percentage). Sophomore Caroline Boone added 11 kills while hitting .400, and sophomore Carlie Smith chipped in 10 kills for the Patriots, now 6-12 on the year.
Two kills by Cochran put Barton up early in set one, 4-1, but Francis Marion won the next three points to knot the score at 4-all, the first of nine ties in the frame. The Lady Bulldogs enjoyed three-point advantages again at 13-10 and 14-11, but a Smith kill and consecutive Barton miscues helped FMU tie the match once more at 14-all.
With the score tied at 15, Francis Marion used kills by Boone and Reed and a service ace by Brianna West to jump in front by three, and after the two sides traded service errors, the Patriots received consecutive kills by Reed to pull away to a five-point cushion, 21-16. The Lady Bulldogs closed to within three on two occasions but could get no closer.
In the second set, FMU quickly raced out to a 6-2 advantage. Barton eventually tied the match at 7-all on a Kaitlyn Micol service ace, but gave possession right back on a service error. The Lady Bulldogs trailed by one point at 11-10 when the Patriots went on a 6-0 run to put the set away early. Boone had a kill and an ace in the spurt and Barton helped with three attack errors.
A kill by Bane pulled Barton within a point at 15-14 midway through the third frame when FMU went on a 4-0 run. Smith had a pair of kills and a block assist to lead the spurt. The Patriots reached match point at 24-21 on a Shelby Schindler kill, but a kill and an ace by Cochran, followed by a Catherine Barber kill, kept the match alive and tied the score at 24-all.
Francis Marion again reached match point at 25-24 on a block by Schindler and Meagan Fajman, but Barber responded with another of her six third-set kills to keep Barton in the match at 25-all. However, a solo block by Smith and another attack error by the Lady Bulldogs finally gave FMU the third set and the match victory.
The Patriots hit .228 as a team in the match while Barton hit .133.
Barton, which began the day in a tie for first place in the Conference Carolinas North Division, will face off against two of the other teams at the top of the division this weekend, beginning with King University on Friday night in Bristol, Tenn. The Lady Bulldogs will play Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C., on Saturday.
