Mars Hill sweeps day two of SAC Regional Crossover

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Mars Hill volleyball team (3-1) swept day two of the South Atlantic Conference Regional Crossover by coming away with four-set victories over Belmont Abbey and King Saturday afternoon.

GAME ONE: MHU 3, BAC 1

The Lions opened up day two of the SAC Regional Crossover with a four-set win over Belmont Abbey (27-29, 26-24, 25-21, 25-21).  Sally Anne Johnson led the way with 15 kills and hit .542 in the contest.

Belmont Abbey's resiliency shone through in the closing moments of the first set.  Trailing 17-22, the Crusaders battled back-and-forth with the Lions down the stretch, squeaking out the 29-27 advantage.  Mackenzie Chrapliwy had a set-high eight kills.

In another tightly contest set, the Lions edged out Belmont Abbey.  Back-to-back kills from Elizabeth Kaeser and a diving effort from Sara Pasour tied the game heading into the third.

The teams once again battled tough all throughout the frame.  With the Lions down 20-18, three errors by the Crusaders along with two kills each from Maddie Spurgeon and Kelly Jakaitis allowed Mars Hill to take seven of the final eight points to take a 2-1 advantage into the fourth set.

Once Mars Hill tied the set at four all, they would never trail for the remainder of the contest.  Late in the set, tied at 17, the Lions took eight of the next 12 points to close out their second win of the season. 

The Lions outhit the Crusaders in three of the four sets played, including a game-high .345 in the third set. 

Maddie Spurgeon and Elizabeth Kaeser added 12 and nine kills, respectively.  Abby King and Sara Pasour each had 19 assists.

GAME TWO: MHU 3, KU 1

The Lions were able to avenge last season's five-set loss to King by coming away with a 3-1 victory (25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19) in the final contest of the SAC Regional Crossover this weekend.

After taking the first two sets, the Lions allowed the Tornado back into the contest.  Aside from two early leads in the third set, the Lions were unable to stop the Tornado in the third, dropping the frame by a score of 25-19.  However, the Lions returned to form in the fourth, dictating play and ending the contest on a four point run to complete the Saturday sweep.

Sally Anne Johnson continued her strong play from game one and added another 15 kills to her day two total.  Elizabeth Kaeser chipped in nine kills and picked up 15 digs.  Sara Pasour led the Lions with 20 assists while Ully Martins had a team-high 30 digs.

Mars Hill opens up South Atlantic Conference play Tuesday evening at Stanford Arena when they host Anderson.  Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.