It was a great fall 2018 for Centenary athletics with numerous individual, season, and even career records falling.
As a team, Centenary Volleyball finished 18-18 overall and 7-9 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play. The .500 record is only the third time, in program history that Centenary finished the season with a .500 or better record. The seven SCAC wins is easily the most conference victories in program history while the 18 overall wins is the third most in Ladies Volleyball history.
In career records, senior Ladies Volleyball outside hitter Hailey Lawson broke the 13-year old mark for digs against Trinity at home October 27. She finished her four-year career with 1,305 digs. She adds the digs record to her aces career record, which she broke during the 2017 season. She completed her career with 211 aces.
However, junior defensive specialist Marissa Sandoval is already right behind Lawson in digs after only three seasons. She has 1,239 digs after her best season of her career with more than four digs per set. Her 518 digs this season ranks third overall and tops during the NCAA Division III era for a single season.
Freshman setter Rachel Demerjian, who received a vote for Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year, finished the year with 1,015 assists – the third-most in program history and the most ever in the NCAA Division III era. Her 55 assists in a win against Johnson & Wales was the most in a single match by a Lady in the NCAA Division three era.
Finally, along with Lawson, a pair of seniors ended their careers near the top of other statistical categories. Outside hitter Shyann Pisano finished the season with 45 aces, the ninth most for a single season. Middle blocker Michaela Brantley finished her career with 196 blocks, the third most in program history.
Gents Soccer finished the season 2-14-2 overall and 0-13-1 in SCAC play. Both wins were come-from-behind; September 2 with a 2-1 win at Hendrix and October 13 with a 3-1 win against Mississippi University for Women on senior day. Freshman goalie Sami Borchalli broke the seven-year-old single-season record for saves, stopping 121 shots.
Finally, Ladies Soccer turned in its best season as a member of the SCAC with a 9-6 overall record and a 6-5 mark in conference action. The six wins to begin the season ties a program record for the best start to a season. The .667 winning percentage was the best in the NCAA Division III era while Centenary's four All-Conference players, juniors Emilee Byrd and Kyra Montes (First Team), junior Betzabet Bravo (Second Team), and freshman Kat Martinez (Honorable Mention) were the most All-Conference players for Centenary in more than 20 years.
Junior Kyra Montes became only the second player in school history to be named First Team All-Conference in back-to-back seasons. She finished second in game-winning goals (six) and third in the conference in both goals (14) and points (33) – breaking the goals mark and ranking second in both game-winning goals and points in the Ladies single-season record book.
In only two seasons, Montes already owns the Centenary NCAA Division III career record for goals (17), points (41), and game-winning goals (eight).
