CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College volleyball team advanced the Gulf South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 14 with a straight-set sweep over Lee University inside A.E. Wood Coliseum. MC improved to 13-14 on the season while the Flames close out their 2023 campaign at 17-15.
 
The victory is the second over the Flames this season – both ending in sweeps.
 
Caroline Chastang and Lydia Paulette paced the team in kills as the newly minted All-GSC duo recorded double-digit kills. Chastang led the squad with 13 on a .357 attack percentage. It is her 19th match this season in double-figure kills and 36th of her career. She added three assists and compiled a team-leading 13 digs.
 
Paulette registered 11 kills – her 23rd of the season and 47th of her career. She added two service aces and picked up a pair of blocks.
 
In her first collegiate start, Caylin Pixley tied for tops on the team in assists with 14 as she matched her fellow freshman setter, Mary Grace Foster. Pixley added a pair of kills, an ace and three digs to her ledger while Foster supplied a pair of blocks along with a dig and kill.
 
Rhaia Davey led the team with three blocks to assist on the defensive end on the net.
 
The Choctaws never trailed in the first two sets, despite two stalemates – both coming in the first set, to take a 2-0 lead in the match. However, the Flames looked to avoid the sweep as they raced out to an early advantage in the third set.
 
The Blue and Gold withstood the early run and battled back to knot the frame at 12-all on a kill from Pixley. The two teams exchanged points back and forth until a Chastang kill placed MC on top for good and broke an 18-all deadlock. The winner sparked a 7-1 run for the Choctaws and Sloane FitzHenry shut the door with a kill, off a feed from Pixley, the final point of the Houston, Texas, native's home career.
 
MC doubled up the Flames in kills as it recorded 40 on the night behind a .260 clip. LU was held to a .062 attack percentage. Naomi Hockless and Abby Stroh led the team with five kills each.
 
Mississippi College returns to action on Friday, Nov. 17 as it faces Auburn University at Montgomery. First serve in Pensacola, Fla., is at 6:30 p.m.
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