BANNERELK—Senior Jaime Hayes had a team-high 20 assists and three kills on four attempts for a .750 hitting percentage to lead No. 8 seed St. Andrews Presbyterian College but No. 1 seed Lees-McRae College advanced in to the semifinals of the 2009 Conference Carolinas Volleyball Tournament with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-22) victory on Tuesday night in Williams Gymnasium.

Senior Jaime Hayes had a team-high 20 assists in the Lady Knights final match of the 2009 season.

Megan Epperson had ten kills and Whitney Justices added eight kills as the Bobcats improved to 27-5 overall. St. Andrews ends its season with a 12-20 record. Lees-McRae will advance to host No. 4 seeded Anderson University Friday, at 6:30 p.m. in William Gymnasium. The Trojans defeated No. 5 Mount Olive College, 3-1, to advance.

Hayes -- a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honoree -- finished her collegiate career with nearly 2,700 assists in a Royal Blue & White uniform.

In the first set, St. Andrews held a slim 10-9 lead before Lees-McRae scored 16 of the last 17 points en route to a 25-11 win.

The second set saw a similar start until two consecutive kills by the Bobcats gave the hosts a 12-11 that was then built up to 16-12. The Knights came back to tie the match on three consecutive attack errors by the Lady Bobcats to give the Knights a 17-16 lead. But, two Megan Mitchell service aces proved to be too much as Lees-McRae closed out the second set, 25-19.

In the third set, the two teams alternated points until a Justine Congdon kill gave Lees-McRae a 21-19 lead. Junior Leah Davison pulled the Knights back with one, but Mitchell’s kills kept the Knights at bay. Two Epperson kills around a Lady Bobcats service error secured the set win, 25-22, and the match sweep for Lees-McRae.

Taylor Clendenin and Katie-Marie Legg added five kills apiece to go along with the efforts of Epperson and Justice for the Lady Bobcats. Mitchell passed out 29 assists, and Congdon collected 12 digs. Luana Rocha had four service aces and eight digs, and Justice had three total blocks, one solo and two block assists.

For the Knights, freshman Jessica Himalstein led the team with nine kills. Freshman Kelly Stine and sophomore Heather Bolwerk followed with five kills apiece. Bolwerk also led the team with 11 digs, and senior Courtney McDonald led the Lady Knights with two service aces.

As a team Lees-McRae had a .209 hitting percentage, 34 kills, 16 errors on 86 attempts, while St. Andrews had a .054 hitting percentage, 26 kills, 21 errors on 92 attempts.