FLORENCE, SC – Senior Carlie Smith and freshman Georgia Garrison both tallied double-doubles to lead Francis Marion University to a four-set (27-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23) Alumni Day win over Augusta University, Saturday (Oct. 29) in Peach Belt Conference women's volleyball action.

Francis Marion sweeps its two PBC weekend matches to improve to 13-10 overall and 7-7 in conference play – only a half-game out of fourth-place.  Alumni volleyball players, many of whom played in an Alumni Match on Saturday morning, were recognized during the intermission between sets two and three.

Francis Marion will play its final two home matches of the season this coming week: against Lander University on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and against UNC Pembroke on Friday at 7 p.m.

Garrison registered 16 kills and 13 digs, while Smith had a near identical stat line of 16 kills and 12 digs.  Smith also added two service aces and six blocks.

Senior middleblocker Caroline Boone pounded out 15 kills, while hitting .448.  Junior Erika Hartings chipped in 10 kills.  Seeing her most significant playing time of 2016, freshman Kaitlyn Ziegelmaier dished out a career-high 52 assists and dug up 11 balls.  Freshman libero Natalie Vaughn had a team-high 20 digs.

Sophomore Blair Bolton led Augusta (14-10, 6-5) with 21 kills and a .432 hitting percentage.  Setter Payton Murchie recorded 48 assists, while libero Cat DeSilvester dug up 27 balls.

Consecutive kills from Garrison and an attack error by the Jaguars helped FMU rally from a 25-24 deficit in the opening set to capture a 27-25 win. An Augusta serving error followed by kills from Garrison and Boone helped the Patriots snap a 17-17 deadlock in set two, a lead FMU would not relinquish.

Both teams hit .324 in the third set, but the Jaguars never trailed en route to extending the match to a fourth set. Back-to-back kills by Boone off Ziegelmaier sets broke a 23-23 tie in the final set and gave the Patriots the match victory.

Francis Marion Univ. def. Augusta University 27-25,25-21,21-25,25-23

Augusta University (14-10, 6-5 PBC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Blair Bolton
21-0-2; Jordan Bickett 10-2-0; Jessica Hedrick 8-0-5; Savanna Gonzales
5-0-2; Rachel Windle 4-0-0; Payton Murchie 2-2-0; Madilyn Sanderson
1-0-0; Cat DeSilvester 1-1-0; JaNhea Beisner 0-2-0; Totals 52-7-5.0.
(Assists) - Payton Murchie 48. (Dig leaders) - Cat DeSilvester 27;
Kenya Stokes 20; Jordan Bickett 12; Payton Murchie 8

Francis Marion Univ. (13-10 , 7-7 PBC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Carlie
Smith 16-2-6; Georgia Garrison 16-0-0; Caroline Boone 15-0-1; Erika
Hartings 10-0-2; Lenee' Blot 6-0-5; Kaitlyn Ziegelmaier 3-0-0; Natalie
Vaughn 0-1-0; Totals 66-3-7.0. (Assists) - Kaitlyn Ziegelmaier 52.
(Dig leaders) - Natalie Vaughn 20; Georgia Garrison 13; Carlie Smith
12; Shelbi Meek 12; Kaitlyn Ziegelmaier 11

Site: Florence, SC (Smith Univ. Center)
Date: Oct 29, 2016   Attend: 111   Time: 2:06   
Referees: Richard Holstead, Glenn Goudy, J.Allen & S.Cooper
Liberos: Vaughn (FMU), DeSilvester (AU)