Host University of Alabama in Huntsville posted its 20th victory of the season (20-3) and moved to 11-2 in Gulf South Conference play with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 29-27) win over Lee University inside Spragins Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Playing the majority of the contest without sophomore Carmen Perez and then freshman Sara Palumbo missing several minutes of the action, the Lady Flames continued to put up a fight, especially in the final set.
Coach Christa Fabre's team forced the Chargers to call a timeout when they evened the score at 20-20 in the third set and then moved on top 26-25 before Huntsville was able to pull out the 29-27 victory.
The loss moved the Lady Flames to 8-5 in conference play and 14-11 overall. They will return to Walker Arena and close out the home season with three straight games. The action begins on Tuesday when Union University visits for a 5 p.m. start. Mississippi College follows for an important Thursday 6 p.m. date and West Alabama will be the opponent for the annual Volley For A Cure event on Friday at 7 p.m. The home stand will conclude Lee's regular home games.
With Perez and Palumbo out, Naomi Hockless and Payton Danley led the attack, both had seven kills and Hocklessfinished with a .375 hitting percentage. Grace Mazzocca added five kills and had a .385 attack percentage.
Overall, Lee managed only 26 kills against the talented Chargers and a .138 attack percentage. Berra Soyler dished off 23 assists while Izzy Denton came up with 13 digs and Mikayla Buhr had 10 digs. Both the Lady Flames and Chargers finished with 40 digs apiece.
For the Chargers, Autumn Mayes was the leader with 14 kills. UAH totaled 48 kills and a .289 hitting percentage. Savannah Rutledge finished with 27 assists. Hailey Holshouser keep the Lady Flames off balance with her serves and tallied seven aces.
Coach Christa Fabre's thoughts:
"Carmen hurt her finger in warmups and it could be broken. Sara's back was in a lot of pain along with other things, but her back is the worst.
Had a tough start in those first two sets. It took us too long to regroup without two starting outsides. This is a tough season on all their bodies. I was glad to see our team compete and fight in the third set, but we still came up short."