Box Score by Kevin Buczek
CENTRAL S.C.-Barton College won the first set and nearly forced a decisive fifth set in a 3-1 Conference Carolinas women's volleyball loss at Southern Wesleyan University on Friday night.
The Warriors hit .232 to rally and win the close 24-26, 25-10, 25-16 and 26-24 contest. SWU improved to 21-8 overall and 12-3 in the league.
BC had three Lady Bulldogs reach double-digit kills with sophomore Alex Ward stepping into the setter role and producing 39 assists. Classmates Kaitlyn Micol and Shae Schmidt led the way with 15 and 12 kills, apiece, while senior Melissa Cochran added 10 spikes.
Cochran also had four block assists and two solo blocks and junior Brittany Edwards registered eight block assists. Senior libero Amanda Grandy highlighted Barton's back row efforts with 26 digs and two aces.
The first set featured 12 ties and neither team taking a lead greater than three points. Barton had a chance to close out the set at 24-23 after Micol ripped a kill but the Warriors extended the set with their own kill. After a BC timeout, Micol connected on another kill to give the Lady Bulldogs another chance at set point and Grandy was able to put the period away with an ace at 26-24.
Micol knocked down six of her season-high 15 kills in the first set.
SWU hit .324 in the second set to quickly tie the match with a 15-point set win. The Warriors then used an 11-2 run midway through the third set to secure that frame and take the 2-1 set advantage.
Barton jumped out to a 15-10 lead midway through the fourth set. Another Micol kill kept the Lady Bulldogs ahead, 21-18, late in the set before the hosts fought back. Southern Wesleyan won six of the next eight points to catapult into the lead at 24-23. BC survived the first match point on Micol's 15th point but a kill by Cherilyn Ramsey gave the hosts another chance at ending the match. Ramsey then ripped her second straight spike to close out the contest.
Ramsey finished with a double-double of 10 kills and 16 digs. Jacinta Hoffpauir led the Warriors with 14 kills and Sarah Hughey contributed 11 kills. Megan Widener tallied 42 assists.
Barton will conclude regular season play with a league tilt at North Greenville University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
