Volleyball falls in five-set thriller
LAURINBURG — The St. Andrews University women’s volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking five-set match to Division II foe Shaw University on Wednesday.
St. Andrews struggled to close out the match as they led late in each of the final three sets by at least two points. Shaw (7-2) kept rallying to win each of the final three sets to steal the match 15-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-23, and 22-20.
Shaw 3, SAU 2
St. Andrews came out strong hitting .226 on 10 kills to roll to a 25-15 first set victory. The Lady Knights kept up the quality play in the second set to win 25-16 and looked as if they would cruise to a three-set win.
Shaw roared back in a competitive third set that went back and forth before the Lady Knights pulled away 23-18 only to see the Lady Bears rally and steal the set 25-23.
St. Andrews made 13 errors after making just six in the first two sets. Shaw stole the fourth set 25-23 after leading most of the way.
The fifth set, which is played to 15 points, was as close as could be as neither team could pull away from each other as it went into extra points at 22-20 with each team failing to close each other out. Unfortunately, the Knights came out on the losing end of the thrilling match.
Senior outside hitter Tessa Smith, led the team with 16 kills and 21 digs, for her fifth double-double of the season.
Senior middle blocker Kiah Cheatham finished with 13 kills and only two errors with four blocks.
Senior Lindsey Wagner added nine kills, six digs and two blocks. Junior Destiney O’Kane added five kills and four blocks.
Sophomore setter Shalia Powell led the team with 28 assists to go along with 12 digs for her first double-double.
Freshman libero Karina Lozada added a season-best 33 digs with two assists and an ace.
St. Andrews (4-4) will next remain home on today to host conference foe Bryan College (2-10) at 6:30 p.m. and Tennessee Wesleyan on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Women’s soccer falls short to Methodist
LAURINBURG —The St. Andrews University women’s soccer team’s rally fell short 4-2 on Wednesday to nearby Division III foe Methodist University.
Methodist 4, SAU 2
Methodist (1-4) got on the board first in the 16th minute before St. Andrews tied it up five minutes later with their first goal of the season. Freshman Tatiana Kendzulak scored off an assist from fellow freshman forward Aiyanna Woods-Clark.
Six minutes later, Methodist scored an unassisted goal to take a 2-1 halftime edge. The Lady Knights came out hot with junior forward Madi Castro firing a terrific shot over the Methodist keeper in the 51st minute to tie the ballgame.
Unfortunately, that was all the scoring the Lady Knights could muster as Methodist added the game-winning goal. Methodist added an insurance goal in the 74th minute to take a 4-2 lead.
St. Andrews, now 0-2, will next go on the road to Tennessee to face conference foe Bryan College (1-2) on Saturday in their AAC opener at 2 p.m.