Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Benny Benton
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Barton College women's volleyball team hit less than .100 against both Quincy University and host Palm Beach Atlantic University in suffering a pair of straight-set losses Saturday on day two of the Hyatt Place Sunshine Classic.
The losses left the Lady Bulldogs without a win in four tournament matches to kick off the 2014 season.
Quincy University 3, Barton College 0
Senior middle hitter Melissa Cochran posted 10 kills, four blocks and a .308 attack percentage, but as a team Barton had two negative hitting sets and recorded a .041 percentage against the Hawks (1-2) in falling 25-19, 25-23, 25-9.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Micol added nine kills in a losing cause, while freshman Riley Bane contributed 22 assists and senior Amanda Grandy chipped in 11 digs.
Despite Quincy out-hitting the Lady Bulldogs .312 to negative .029 in the opening frame, Barton still trailed by just three points at 20-17 following a Bane service ace, but consecutive kills by Emily Lindemulder and Carly Schmitt helped the Hawks ease away for the win.
In a close second set that featured six ties and three lead changes, the Lady Bulldogs led by two points at 21-19 following a Quincy attack error, but Briann Joslin produced one of her nine kills in the set to give the Hawks a side out, and consecutive hitting miscues by Barton put Quincy back into the lead at 22-21.
A ball-handling error by Quincy tied the match again at 22-all, but Joslin delivered consecutive kills to put the Hawks on set point. Cochran helped the Lady Bulldogs briefly prolong the match with a kill, but Joslin struck again with a spike to finish off the set. Joslin, a senior and two-time first-team all-conference honoree, finished the contest with a match-high 16 kills.
The third set was never in doubt, as the Hawks rolled out to a 9-2 advantage and cruised from there. Quincy hit .467 in the set while Barton again went negative (.034).
No. 25 Palm Beach Atlantic 3, Barton 0
Barton won the first point of the second frame and held the lead briefly, the only time that the Lady Bulldogs would find themselves in front in a straight-set loss to the nationally-ranked Sailfish, 25-10, 25-18, 25-10.
Palm Beach Atlantic (4-0), which has been an NCAA Division II Tournament participant the past two seasons, jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead in set one and won the first nine points of set three in breezing through those two frames. The Sailfish hit .440 and .500, respectively, in those two sets.
Three quick kills by Micol helped Barton to a 5-2 advantage in the middle set. After the Sailfish regained the lead, the Lady Bulldogs kept themselves within striking distance through the mid-point of the frame, trailing by four at 14-10 and 15-11 before PBA pulled away.
Cochran again paced Barton with eight kills and did not produce an error in hitting .320. Micol added seven kills and freshman Courtney Wiseman chipped in five. Bane collected 17 assists and Grandy reached double-figures in digs for the fourth straight tournament match with 12.
Faith Rohn delivered a match-high 12 kills for the Sailfish, with Emma Ballantyne adding seven and Katie Ballantyne chipping in five. The Sailfish had nine service aces in the match, paced by three from Melissa Buckingham.
The Lady Bulldogs hit .070 for the match, while PBA came in at .284.
Barton will continue its search for its first win of 2014 on Wednesday when it visits Hartsville, S.C., to take on former conference member Coker College in a 7 p.m. match.
