RALEIGH, NC – After falling on the road to Greensboro College in their previous match this year, the William Peace volleyball team returned the favor on their home court Tuesday night, finishing the Pride off in four sets.
WPU (10-16, 7-4 USAS) looked as strong as they have all year out of the gates. They committed only two attack errors hitting .382 in the opening set, which they won, 25-18. Merica Ivey and Tempestt Frazier linked up for three of the team's seven total blocks as the Pacers took the second set, 25-19.
Greensboro (14-11, 6-7 USAS) didn't go away though. They kept the match alive with an easy, 25-15, third set win in which the Peace committed 10 attack errors.
It looked like the Pacers were going to cruise to victory with a 21-16 lead in the fourth, but the Pride went on a 6-0 run to jump ahead by one. Fortunately, WPU recovered and held on, 27-25.
"The numbers don't really show it, but our block set the tone for us defensively…we also improved on our serve-receive from last time against them," said head coach Kevin Daniels. "We fell asleep early in that third set, and we just stopped doing what we did so well in games one and two, which was putting the ball over the net and forcing them to play."
Ivey led the way for the Pacers with a career high 15 kills at a .355 clip in addition to a pair of service aces, two digs, and three block assists.
Megan Mansfield had another solid outing with 12 kills hitting .321. She also added a service ace, a block solo, and a block assist.
Nicole Phillips was the other Pacer to collect double-digit kills with 11 to go along with a dig and a block solo.
Baylee Maughon dished out 45 assists with six digs and a block assist.
Carson Williams, the conferences reining defensive player of the week, led the team with 20 digs. She also racked up a career high five service aces.
The William Peace volleyball team returns to action with a pair of South Division matches this Saturday. They'll take on Covenant at 10:00 a.m. followed by Maryville at 4:00 p.m.
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