MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The William Carey Volleyball Team opened the 2024 SSAC Championship, defeating both Life University and Blue Mountain Christian in straight sets at the Multi-Plex at Cramton Bowl.
In their first match of the day, the Carey offense was firing on all cylinders at the start, opening the first set on an 8-1 run, with six of the points coming by way of a kill, block, or service ace. It was all WCU from there, as they stretched their lead to 18-8 before closing the set on a 7-1 run.
Things were a little closer at the start of the second set, but with the Lady Crusaders leading 8-5 they pulled away for good behind a 6-0 run with four points coming off a kill and another from an ace. From there Carey cruised to a 25-11 second set victory.
The third set was nothing like the first two at the start, as both teams traded shots with both teams taking turns with the lead. However, just like in the previous sets, the Lady Crusaders used a 5-0 run to take a 15-9 lead but the Eagles kept on fighting and managed to cut the deficit to just three points at 19-16 but would get no closer, as WCU closed the set on a 6-3 run to complete the sweep.
Suelen Lima led the attack with fourteen kills while Katarina Vulic had thirty assists.
Against the Toppers, Carey once again got off to a great start, as they picked up five kills and got two attack errors from BMCU to open the first set on a 7-1 run. The Lady Crusaders continued their attack stretching their lead to 21-7. However, the Toppers made the Carey faithful a little nervous, as they battled their way back to within just five points at 23-18 but WCU was not allowing the comeback, as Marcella Hermont and Elaina Anderson provided the final two points to seal the victory.
The second set started just like the first, as the Lady Crusaders once again took the early lead, opening on a 10-1 run before pulling away to a 20-10 advantage. It looked as if the Toppers once again were going to make things interesting, but this time WCU was not having any of it, as they would not let BMCU get any closer than six points, before going on to take the set 25-18 and the 2-0 lead.
Blue Mountain regrouped to start the third set, taking an early 6-4 lead but Carey quickly tied it at six behind back-to-back blocks from Vulic and Anderson. From there neither team led by more than two points until with the set tied at fourteen, the Lady Crusaders used three kills and an attack error by the Toppers to take an18-14 lead. It looked as if WCU had things well in hand, pulling away to a 24-18 advantage. However, Blue Mountain would not go quietly, as they rattled off six straight points to tie the set once again. Carey would not be denied, as Anderson again put WCU within one point of victory with Hermont and Anderson sealing the sweep with a block.
Suelen Lima led the offense with sixteen kills and twelve digs while Sofia Bettini finished with twelve kills and thirteen digs. Katarina Vulic picked up 39 assists with eleven digs with Kayla Benedic adding ten digs.
Carey is back in action tomorrow, as they wrap up pool play against Faulkner University. Play is set to begin at 1:30 pm at the Multi-Plex at Cramton Bowl.
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