CHARLOTTE, NC – Sophomore Georgia Garrison registered 10 kills and 14 digs en route to posting a double-double as Francis Marion University fell to Queens University of Charlotte 26-24, 25-16, 25-21 in its opening match of the Queens Volleyball Fall Invitational. The Patriots dropped their second match on Friday (Sept. 2) to Lenoir-Rhyne University 25-18, 25-19, 25-22.

The Patriots, now 0-2 overall, will look to even their record on Saturday when FMU returns for the second day of the tournament to face Belmont Abbey College at 10:30 a.m. and Catawba College at 5:15 p.m. in the Curry Center.

Senior Caroline Boone finished the match with nine kills and one block, while senior Carlie Smith recorded five kills, 14 digs, and a pair of blocks against the Royals (1-0). Sophomore setter Carrie McGinnis led the way for FMU with 32 assists, adding seven digs and two service aces in the process.

Francis Marion freshman middleblocker Lenee' Blot completed her first match as a Patriot with six kills. The Miami native also tallied two blocks and recorded a .333 hitting percentage. Junior libero Shelbi Meek tallied a team-high 18 digs while hitting .333 in the match for FMU.

FMU would take an early lead in the opening set after a service ace from Smith made it 4-3. The Royals would rally to take the lead, and advantage, midway through the set. Tied 12-12, Francis Marion took advantage of an attack error by the Royals Rebecca Cochran. With both teams trading the lead in set, Queens would tally the final three-points needed to secure the 26-24 win in the first set.

With the third set underway, the Patriots would make a pair of rallies as they looked to extend the match. Trailing 18-13, FMU used a trio of nice plays to eventually cut the deficit to 20-15. Garrison delivered back-to-back kills to trim the Queens lead to 24-21 before the Royals would record the decisive point to secure the match.

In the loss to Lenoir-Rhyne (2-0), Boone tallied a match-high 17 kills and hit a scorching .500 from the floor. McGinnis led FMU with 28 assists, while Garrison added five kills and 13 digs. Blot pounded out four kills and came-away with four blocks at the net.

Meek was able to dig a match-high 20 balls and add three assists, while junior Erika Hartings finished with three kills, two service aces, one block, and seven digs. The transfer started in both matches on the day for Francis Marion and head coach Paul MacDonald.

After dropping each of the first two sets to the Bears, FMU came out of the gates with plenty of momentum in the third set, jumping out to an 8-3 lead after a kill by Hartings that was set-up by McGinnis. The Patriots would hold onto their edge until the Bears erased a four-point deficit to knot the set 18-18. A block by Boone two plays later would restore a two-point lead for FMU before one final rally saw LRU tie the set 20-20. The Bears would cap-off the come-back thanks to a service ace from Emily Steele to secure the 25-22 victory in the third and final set.

Queens U. Charlotte def. Francis Marion Univ. 26-24,25-16,25-21

Francis Marion Univ. (0-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Georgia Garrison
10-0-0; Caroline Boone 9-0-1; Lenee' Blot 6-0-2; Carlie Smith 5-1-2;
Erika Hartings 4-0-0; Shelbi Meek 1-0-0; Carrie McGinnis 0-2-0;
Natalie Vaughn 0-1-0; Totals 35-4-3.0. (Assists) - Carrie McGinnis 32.
(Dig leaders) - Shelbi Meek 18; Carlie Smith 14; Georgia Garrison 14

Queens U. Charlotte (1-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Meredith Jones 12-3-1;
Rebecca Cochran 11-2-1; Taylor Henry 8-2-1; Jessica Raines 6-0-2; Alex
Thompson 6-0-2; Sydney Kunz 3-0-0; Totals 46-7-4.0. (Assists) - Sydney
Kunz 40. (Dig leaders) - Megan Mancini 18; Rebecca Cochran 12;
Meredith Jones 11; Sydney Kunz 9; Amanda Karan 8; Taylor Henry 8

Site: Charlotte, N.C. (Curry Arena)
Date: Sept 2, 2016   Attend: 722   Time: 1:22    
Referees:
Libero: Meek (FMU)

Lenoir-Rhyne Univ. def. Francis Marion Univ. 25-18,25-19,25-22

Francis Marion Univ. (0-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Caroline Boone
17-0-2; Georgia Garrison 5-0-1; Lenee' Blot 4-0-4; Erika Hartings
3-2-1; Carrie McGinnis 2-1-0; Carlie Smith 2-1-2; Totals 33-4-6.0.
(Assists) - Carrie McGinnis 28. (Dig leaders) - Shelbi Meek 20;
Georgia Garrison 13; Carrie McGinnis 8

Lenoir-Rhyne Univ. (1-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Brooke Redmond 14-2-1;
Brandi Thomas 10-1-3; Emily Steele 7-1-5; Jaclyn Denny 4-0-1; Alexis
Ivey 2-0-9; Laila Horton 1-0-0; Abbi Stacherski 0-0-1; Hannah Houston
0-0-1; Anna Smith 0-1-0; Totals 38-5-11.0. (Assists) - Serina Nickle
15; Anna Smith 14. (Dig leaders) - Brandi Thomas 16; Ashley Markland
10; Brooke Redmond 9; Anna Smith 8

Site: Charlotte, N.C. (Curry Arena)
Date: Sept 2, 2016   Attend: 87   Time: 1:35    
Referees:
Libero: Meek (FMU)