Box Score by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College women's volleyball team earned its third consecutive Conference Carolinas victory and fourth overall with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-19) decision over King University on Friday night in Wilson Gymnasium.
The Lady Bulldogs (9-8, 4-3) continued their winning ways with a .264 hitting percentage and nine total service aces in the match to take over sole possession of second place in the North Division. King (8-11, 3-4) fell into a tie for third place in the division as Barton held the Tornado to a .134 hitting percentage and forced 16 attack errors.
Barton tallied the first four points of the match, including two service aces from junior Mariana Kedzia, and eventually led by as much as 8-2 before King closed the gap with four straight points.
The Lady Bulldogs used another service ace from Kedzia to go ahead 15-10 midway through the first set. The Barton lead grew to a nine-point advantage until the Tornado rattled off three points in a row to put together a late rally, ending the set with a service error and a Barton victory.
King and Barton played to six early ties in the second set of play as King used a 6-0 run to gain a 15-10 lead. BC battled back to tie the set at 17 points apiece, taking the lead on three straight kills by sophomore Stephanie Pingyin. The Lady Bulldogs held the lead, ending the set on a service ace from junior Kaitlyn Micol to take a 2-0 match lead.
The Royal Blue and White opened the final set on a torrid pace, leading by a 15-4 margin after kills by Micol, Pingyin and Kedzia. The Tornado closed the gap late but a kill from freshman Haley Headley gave the Lady Bulldogs the 25-19 set victory and secured the match in Barton's favor.
Pingyin led all players with a match-high 18 kills, recording a .375 hitting percentage and eight digs. Kedzia had 12 digs, eight kills and a season-high five service aces, while Micol chipped in 11 digs, five kills and two service aces of her own.
Freshman Angelica Acevedo finished with 32 assists and 10 digs for her second career double-double as sophomore Laura Peed totaled 16 digs to lead all players.
Barton will host the Bobcats of Lees-McRae College tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Wilson Gym to continue their five-game homestand.
