By: Charles Shearer
Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. - After a week off from match play, Webber International University (17-1,7-0)traveled to Southeastern University(9-9, 2-6) for another Sun Conference tilt. The Lady Warriors won a closely contested match in four sets 27-25, 25-23, 25-27, 25-23.
Carlee Baxter continues her stellar season with 59 assists and 10 digs, recording a double-double, as well as breaking her previous record of 53 assists in a four set match.
Nikki McDaniel and
Tessa Colden each led the way offensively with 25 and 23 kills respectively, and
Katie Schueman added 11 kills while hitting .364.
Michelle Calderon anchored the defense with a match high 24 digs, while McDaniel and Colden added 18 and 15.
The first set would start off with both teams trading points. The Lady Warriors would earn a 7-4 lead, but the Fire quickly cut that deficit to one. After keeping it within a point, Webber would capture a 19-15 lead, the biggest of the set be either team. However, the Fire responded with a service run to pull to 18-19, and eventually take the lead at 20-21. Webber would find themselves down 22-24, and fought of set point to tie the game and eventually put the set away. Colden had 9 kills in the set, while McDaniel added 7.
Set two would see a similar tight beginning. The teams went point for point until Webber pulled ahead 14-10 midway through. Looking to capitalize, they used a 4-2 run to push the lead to 18-12, and then further extend the lead to 23-18. The Fire would not go down quietly, and used excellent blocking to fuel a 5-0 run. They would get within a point late, but Webber promptly sided out to finish the second set. McDaniel paced the set with 8 kills.
The Lady Warriors then found themselves down quickly to start the third. The Fire used strong serving and attacking to jump on top early 6-1. Webber would proceed to fight back throughout the set, trading points and cutting into the deficit in one point segments. They would force within one point at 13-14, and would stay there right until the end. Tied 25-25, the Fire used a kill and a block to seal up set three. Schueman had 5 kills in the set, while Baxter added 19 assists.
Set four would start tight, with both teams trading points to 4-4. The Warriors used a 5-0 run to jump ahead of the Fire and used that lead to propel them to a late 19-12 lead. The Fire, fighting to stay alive, would battle back to within two points at 21-19. From there, however, the Warriors were able to trade points until the end and pull out the tight 4th set victory, as well as seal the match. McDaniel had 5 kills in the set, and Calderon added 7 digs.
The Fire were led by Kelsey Morton with 14 kills and Lydia Rooth with 13. Alyssa Prescott had 19 digs, and Morton added 16. Uche Kojo would earn 4.5 blocks for the match, with Kaitlin Boyd adding another 4.0 on her own.
The Warriors will return to action on Friday as they host Sun Conference foe Saint Thomas University. First serve is set for 7:00PM.