SMC Volleyball Picks Up Record-Setting Win

COLUMBIA, S.C. – It took a complete team effort to pull off the first win in volleyball history and as an athletic department when the Spartanburg Methodist volleyball team swept host Columbia College, 25-18, 25-14, 25-23 on Tuesday night.

"I am so proud of this team for bouncing back from a tough weekend in Florida," said head coach Makayla Holcombe. "I was able to see some growth tonight as we continue to work on our team chemistry."

Spartanburg Methodist (1-4) hit at a .250 clip in the straight-set win. Leilani Campbell had 10 kills without a hitting error on her way to a .714 hitting percentage. Brantlie Price and Makinnley Smart had eight and seven kills, respectively.

Also, for SMC, Aurora Aho nearly had a double double with six kills and 10 digs; Brook Noe had a team-best four service aces to go along with 16 assists and three digs and Katherine James had a team-best 12 digs to go along with two service aces. For the match, the Pioneers racked up nine service aces.

Columbia College was paced by a nine-kill effort from Grace Hicklin, plus they picked up 16 assists from Debra Sheppard and Destiny Brown led the frontline with a match-best three blocks.

The first set saw the visitors break an early tie at three with six-straight points as they went on to lead for the remainder of the first set on its way to a 25-18 margin.

The second set saw was controlled by the Pioneers as they raced out to a 16-5 lead as Campbell had four of her 10 kills in the set to lead SMC.

The third set was the most tightly contested of the match as it was tied on 10 occasions. With the set tied at 22, the two-setter attack of the Pioneers' Tristan Craine and Brook Noe set up Kendall Meinders and Leilani Campbell, respectively for a pair of kills to put SMC a point away from clinching the match.  Columbia College remained in the match after a service error. The Pioneers closed out the match with a block solo by Meinders on a Columbia College attack for the final margin.

Next, Spartanburg Methodist College will return home for an exhibition on Thursday against Converse at 4:30 p.m. on the campus of Wofford University and the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.