Box Score Box score

WINGATE, N.C. − Katie Beale (Stuart, Fla./Martin County HS) recorded a career-high 27 kills and added 14 digs for her 19th double-double of the season as Flagler College, the No. 2 seed, rallied to defeat Lees-McRae College, the No. 7 seed, 3-2 (25-27, 26-28, 25-22, 25-18, 15-11) in the second quarterfinal of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Friday afternoon at Cuddy Arena.

Flagler advances to the semifinals where it will face a familiar opponent in No. 3 seed Armstrong Atlantic State University tomorrow (Nov. 21) at 4:30 p.m. The same two teams met last Sunday for the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship where Flagler prevailed 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-23). The Saints have also defeated the Pirates twice during the regular season.

Flagler (33-8) also broke the school record for wins in a season with 33. The previous record was 32 set back in 2003. This is also the first national post-season victory for the Saints in volleyball.

Meg Weathersby (Maitland, Fla./Orangewood Christian) added 18 kills, 10 digs and eight total blocks, just missing a triple-double. Justine Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla./Winthrop U.) tallied 14 kills and 18 digs and hit .263 for the match. Olivia Snipes (Easley, S.C./Easley HS) notched her eighth double-double with 34 assists and 17 digs. Rebecca Royal (Green Cove Springs, Fla./Fleming Island HS) registered 25 assists and a season-high six total blocks.

Katie-Marie Legg led the Bobcats with 17 kills, a .417 hitting percentage and four blocks for Lees-McRae (29-6). Whitney Justice added 16 kills while Taylor Clendenin chipped in with 12 more. Luana Rocha collected a match-high 23 digs while Megan Epperson tallied 18 more. Megan Mitchell registered 47 assists.

The Bobcats rallied from a 15-8 deficit in the first set. Lees-McRae broke two set points, the second coming on a kill by Epperson to knot the set at 24-all. After a service error by Mitchell, the Bobcats closed the set with back-to-back kills by Justice Congdon and Clendenin.

Flagler held a 17-12 lead in the second set, but the Bobcats rallied again. Lees-McRae tied the set at 21 after a pair of attack errors by Flagler. A Rachel Stacy (Orlando, Fla./Timber Creek HS) kill via a blocking error by Bobcat put the Saints up 26-25. Lees-McRae closed the set with three straight points, aided by a pair of attack errors by Flagler.

In the third set, Flagler had to rally from an early deficit. The Saints rattled off four straight points to take a 14-12 lead, one they would not relinquish. After a timeout by Lees-McRae, Flagler ran off two more points to continue the run. The Saints held the Bobcats to a .054 hitting percentage for that set.

Lees-McRae opened the fourth set scoring five-of-the-first-six points until Flagler rallied to tie it at 7-7 and then took the lead 8-7 on three consecutive kills by Burkhardt. She added another after the Bobcat timeout. Again, the Flagler defense played strong holding Lees-McRae to a .079 hitting percentage.

In the fifth and final set, the Saints scored the first five points and held an 8-3 lead as the teams swapped sides of the court. Lees-McRae fought its way back to 11-9, but could not get any closer.

(special thanks to David Sherwood, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information and Game Operations at Wingate University for contributing to the release)


Flagler def. Lees-McRae 25-27,26-28,25-22,25-18,15-11

Lees-McRae (29-6) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Katie-Marie Legg 17-0-4;
Whitney Justice 16-0-1; Taylor Clendenin 12-0-1; Megan Epperson 9-3-2;
Lauren Hall 2-0-0; Justine Congdon 2-3-0; Taylor Stice 0-0-1; Luana
Rocha 0-2-0; Totals 58-8-5.0. (Assists) - Megan Mitchell 47. (Dig
leaders) - Luana Rocha 23; Megan Epperson 18; Trisha Reese 10; Megan
Mitchell 9; Justine Congdon 8

Flagler (33-8) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Beale, Katie 27-3-1; Weathersby,
Meg 18-1-8; Burkhardt, Justine 14-2-1; Stacy, Rachel 9-1-4; Royal,
Rebecca 3-0-6; Hendrian, Becky 1-0-3; Snipes, Olivia 1-0-0; Totals
73-7-13.0. (Assists) - Snipes, Olivia 34; Royal, Rebecca 25. (Dig
leaders) - Burkhardt, Justine 18; Snipes, Olivia 17; Beale, Katie 14;
Unitas, Jillian 13; Gnann, Casey 13; Weathersby, Meg 10

Site: Wingate, N.C. (Cuddy Arena)
Date: Nov 20, 2009 Attend: 217 Time: 2:03
Referees: Keith Murless, De Batchelor
Flagler advances to play AASU Saturday at 4:30
NCAA Southeast Regional Quarterfinal #2
#2 Flagler vs. #7 Lees-McRae