November 6, 2007

      BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Bryan College women’s volleyball team headed down to Birmingham, Alabama on Tuesday evening to take on the Lady Panthers of Birmingham Southern College.  For the Lady Lions, it was the final game of their regular season, and the team was looking to gain some momentum heading into the AAC Tournament. Unfortunately for the Bryan Coach Leo Sayles and his team, they ran into a team on a roll.

     The Lady Panthers of Birmingham-Southern volleyball swept visiting Bryan College Tuesday evening in Bill Battle Coliseum, 3-0. The Panthers end the season at 32-3, the best record in program history, while Bryan falls to 19-12 with the loss.

     BSC jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the first game and never looked back, winning by a score of 30-12. The second game was much closer, with BC leading 8-3 before the Panthers made a 14-4 run to take the lead, 17-12. Bryan responded with a 12-3 run of its own to go up, 24-20, but BSC rallied to take the lead back once again for good and eventually won, 30-26.

     Game three was even closer, with the teams playing to eight ties up to the 14-14 mark before BC pulled ahead, 18-14, and continued to lead up to the 23-18 mark. After that, the Panthers made yet another run, scoring seven straight points to go up, 25-23. The teams traded points down the stretch and the Panthers won, 30-28.

    For the Lady Lions, Gabrielle Claxton led with eight kills, Hannah Suits and Deborah Lowery recorded 13 and 12 assists, respectively, Kathryn Rawley posted 12 digs, and Ashley Sours led with three blocks.

     For Birmingham Southern, Sophomore Sarah Harris led all players with 16 kills, followed by sophomore Michelle Maciejewski with 11 kills. Sophomore Milica Stojanovic recorded a game-high 42 assists, sophomore Alex Norten recorded a game-high 14 digs, and sophomores Caitlin Dees and Krisanne Calvert each posted three blocks.

     The Lady Lions were outhit by the Lady Panthers .295 to .142, and out-blocked 6-4.