Box Score by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-The Barton College women's volleyball team senior class played a big impact in knocking off Conference Carolinas North Division co-leader Lees-McRae College in four sets Saturday afternoon in the Dog House.
Katie Midgett started the Lady Bulldogs triumphant day with the opening serve and was then supported by her five classmates. Melissa Cochran led BC's front line with 15 kills and five block assists; Amanda Grandy and Corinna Morton had big defensive performances with 19 and 18 digs, respectively; Jillian Sherman totaled five spikes and two blocks; and Catherine Barber furnished four kills and six digs.
Midgett, Cochran, Grandy, Morton, Sherman and Barber were honored by head coach Jeff Lennox, assistant Tyler Malpass and the rest of the team just moments before the match to celebrate their Senior Day.
Barton continued the celebration into the match winning by a score of 25-22, 25-20, 15-25 and 25-15. The Lady Bulldogs, who are 9-15 overall and 4-3 at home, leveled their league ledger to 7-7. BC is in fourth place in the North Division and two games behind both Lees-McRae and Belmont Abbey College with two regular season matches left on the schedule.
The Lady Bulldogs avenged a 3-0 loss to the Bobcats from just two weeks earlier in Banner Elk, N.C., by hitting better (.177 compared to .134) and having more total aces (7-5) and blocks (9-8) than LMC.
Barton won the pivotal first set which proved to be the closest game of the match with nine ties and five lead changes. The Bobcats clung to a 21-19 lead before a trio of seniors rallied the Bulldogs to the win with a closing 6-1 run. The comeback featured a tying kill by Sherman, a service ace by Grandy and two closing kills by Cochran (who had seven of her 15 kills in the first set).
The Lady Bulldogs won the first three points of the second set and coasted to their easiest set win by hitting .237. Barton never trailed and led by as many as eighth before rolling to the five-point conquest.
Lees-McRae fought back with a strong third set to extend the match. The Bobcats ripped 13 kills and hit .333 for the stanza in taking the 10-point win.
The Royal Blue and White answered in the fourth quickly doubling up the visitors 10-5. Sophomore Shae Schmidt and Kaitlyn Micol aided in the early surge with two kills apiece. Lees-McRae pulled within one at 12-11 but Barton stayed poised with a decisive 10-1 run on the service rotation of Morton and Cochran. Sherman then ended the match with the Lady Bulldogs 50th kill of the day.
Micol notched her first double-double with 12 kills and a season-high 14 digs while freshman setter Riley Bane added her eighth double-double with a match-high 38 assists and 18 digs. Junior Brittany Edwards chipped in a productive seven kills, three block assists and one solo block.
Jariliz Cotte paced the Bobcats with team-high marks of 15 kills and 19 digs. Courtney Weathersbee also had a strong match for Lees-McRae with 17 assists and 18 digs.
Barton will conclude regular season play with one last league road trip next weekend visiting Southern Wesleyan University in Central, S.C., on Friday at 7 p.m., and North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C., on Saturday at 2 p.m.
