MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- With its 22nd win, the Mississippi College volleyball team set the school record for wins with a season sweep and three-set victory at Auburn University at Montgomery on Saturday, Oct. 29. MC improved to 22-5 on the season and 11-3 in Gulf South Conference action.
The win total surpassed the previous record of 21 set by the 1994 squad, which finished the season with a 21-8 mark.
The straight-set victory also marks the 13th of the season for the squad during the record setting season, its fifth in GSC play.
Lydia Paulette led the Choctaw in kills as she totaled 10 in the match. Caroline Chastang finished second on the squad with nine while
Kendall Platt tabbed in eight. MC logged 39 kills in the match.
Lexie Laurendine helped direct the offense as she dished out a team-best 26 assists.
The trio of
Sloane FitzHenry, Paulette and Laurendine paced the squad on the front line. FitzHenry and Paulette totaled five blocks each while Laurendine added four rejections.
Missy Beber added a team-leading 11 digs to assist in the defensive effort.
Trailing 9-7 in the opening set, the Choctaw used a 5-0 run to gain a 12-9 advantage. The run sparked a 13-4 scoring spurt that placed the team up 20-13. The Warhawks attempted a rally late as they pulled to within 23-18, but a Chastang kill and AUM miscue closed the set at 25-18.
A tightly contested, second set saw the two squads exchange four lead changes and stand deadlocked 11 times during the game. Chastang broke a 22-all tie with a kill, but AUM responded with a kill of its own to match the score at 23-up. It stood as the final tie of the set as the Navy and Gold used two Warhawk errors to land a 25-23 win and take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Much like the prior set, the two conference members swapped four leads changes and added 10 standoffs during the course of the third. With a stalemate at 16, Ali Wiggins delivered a kill that sparked a 3-0 run to give MC a 19-16 advantage as it never trailed again. A pair of blocks from the combination of Paulette, Laurendine and FitzHenry helped lead the way during the run.
The Choctaw, who have booked a spot in the conference tournament, find themselves in third place in the GSC following the action Saturday afternoon. The top eight teams in conference advance to the conference tournament with the top four advancing to the conference's top teams home floor Nov. 11-13. The fifth through eight seeds battle on Monday, Nov. 7 for an opportunity to move on to the quarterfinals with the top four seeds.
Mississippi College returns to action on Thursday, Nov. 3 as it hosts the University of Alabama in Huntsville. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
