COLORADO SPRINGS Colo. – The Ladies tied the program record for conference wins in the morning as Centenary (12-13, 4-6 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) knocked off Johnson & Wales (1-19, 1-10 SCAC) in five sets, 25-13, 17-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11. However, the Ladies lost the final match of the weekend to #5 Colorado College (23-2, 10-1 SCAC) 25-21, 25-12, 25-10 at the 2018 Pike Peak's Challenge in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Saturday afternoon, October 13.
The Ladies took control against the Wildcats in the first set, scoring the final 10 points on a service run by junior Kristian Loving. Up 15-13, a senior Makenzie Shaw kill put Centenary on serve. After an attack error, Johnson & Wales called a timeout. That did not stop Centenary, who reached 20 on two kills from freshman Lauren Kelley and a ball handling error by the Wildcats. Two attack errors, two kills from freshman Elizabeth Epley, and a kill from Kelley ended the frame.
Kelley contributed a career high 15 kills.
The Wildcats bounced back to take set two before Centenary held on to take the third. Tied at five, seven unanswered put Centenary in the lead of the set for good. A kill from freshman Alyssa Davis put freshman Shannon Orlopp on serve. An Orlopp ace, two kills from senior Michaela Brantley, and a Wildcats hitting error forced a timeout. Another ace and a Davis kill ended the run.
Brantley hit .455 for the match, tallying 12 kills.
Centenary led 20-11 before Johnson & Wales scored seven straight. Brooke Paxton hit an ace while Centenary added a pair of errors. A kill by Ashlee Ruehs and another pair of errors for the Ladies forced a timeout. Paxton punctuated the run with an ace.
Paxton led the Wildcats with 21 kills and 21 digs, while Ruehs added her own double-double with 17 kills and 14 digs.
A Kelley kill stopped the run, and a Wildcats hitting error put Centenary up four. Johnson & Wales responded with a pair of points of its own, but the Ladies sided out. The two teams split the final four points as Centenary went up two sets to one.
While the Wildcats took set four, Centenary made things interesting to carry momentum into the final set. Down 24-20, an assisted block by Epley and Orlopp put Loving on serve. An attack error and a Kelley kill brought Centenary within one, but a Brea Chaney kill by the Wildcats ended the set.
In the fifth, Centenary trailed 9-7 before three straight points. A service error cut the deficit to one before a pair of blocks by the team of Davis and Brantley put the Ladies in the lead. Later up 12-11, a Wildcats error and two kills from Orlopp ended the thriller.
Freshman Rachel Demerjian recorded another double-double for the Ladies with career highs in both assists (55) and digs (25). Her 55 assists broke the Centenary Division III match record.
In match two, the nationally-ranked Tigers used strong starts to begin each set for the win. Kelley led Centenary with 10 kills while Margo Spaethling led the Tigers with seven blocks and eight kills.
Centenary returns to action next Saturday, October 20, with a pair of SCAC contests in Sherman, Texas. The Ladies take on the home team, Austin College, at 10 a.m. before closing out the day against Southwestern at 2 p.m.
