BELMONT, NC – Senior Alyssa Hansen pounded out a season-high 18 kills and Francis Marion University produced remarkable rallies in sets one and three to claim a 25-23, 23-25, 28-26, 25-15 win over Belmont Abbey College, Tuesday night (Sept. 28) in Conference Carolinas women's volleyball action.
 
The Patriots even their overall mark at 8-8 with their fourth-straight win and remain one-half-game behind division-leader UNC Pembroke with a 4-0 conference mark.  FMU will continue its three-match road swing by playing at Erskine College on Friday at 6 p.m. and at Emmanuel College on Saturday at 2 p.m.  The next home match for Francis Marion will be Oct. 8 against Converse University at 6 p.m.
 
Hansen tallied her highest kill total in three seasons on only 36 swings with just three errors for a .417 hitting percentage.  Senior Lily Walton added a season-high 13 kills and five blocks, while graduate student Kayla Arthur chipped in 11 kills with a .526 hitting percentage and sophomore Lexi Albright 10 kills.
 
Sophomore setter Kaylee Gillespie just missed out on her ninth double-double of the year with 30 assists and nine digs, while graduate student Naina Ivanova registered 22 assists and seven digs. Freshman libero Zoie Larkins dug up a team-high 17 balls.
 
Cameron Young and Lauren Hamilton paced Belmont Abbey (1-13, 1-3) with 14 kills apiece, while setter Paige Rawlins recorded 43 assists and 13 digs.
 
The serving of sophomore Keely Mclain helped FMU rally from a 22-15 deficit in the opening set as Hansen had three kills in the rally.  Trailing 21-14 in the third set, Arthur served the majority of a 10-2 run.  Walton and Hansen clinched the set with back-to-back kills to snap a 26-26 deadlock.
 
Francis Marion hit .395 as a team in the fourth set and concluded the match with a 9-1 run.


Francis Marion Univ. def. Belmont Abbey 25-23,23-25,28-26,25-15

Francis Marion Univ. (8-8,4-0 Conference C) (Kills-aces-blocks) -
Alyssa Hansen 18-0-0; Lily Walton 13-0-5; Kayla Arthur 11-2-1; Lexi
Albright 10-1-2; Gracie Davis 5-0-1; Madeline Winning 3-0-4; Naina
Ivanova 1-2-0; Zoie Larkins 1-2-0; Kaylee Gillespie 1-2-1; Keely
Mclain 0-1-0; Peyton Holley 0-3-0; Totals 63-13-7.0. (Assists) -
Kaylee Gillespie 31; Naina Ivanova 22. (Dig leaders) - Zoie Larkins
17; Peyton Holley 10; Kaylee Gillespie 9; Lexi Albright 8

Belmont Abbey (1-13,1-3 Conference) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Young,
Cameron 14-2-0; Hamilton, Lauren 14-0-2; Faber, Caitlyn 8-2-1;
Youmans, Kate 7-0-0; Rose, Bailey 5-0-2; McCullough, Jenna 4-0-2;
Rawlins, Paige 3-2-1; Bradley, Trinity 0-1-0; Ryan, Hailey 0-2-0;
Totals 55-9-4.0. (Assists) - Rawlins, Paige 42. (Dig leaders) - Ryan,
Hailey 23; Rawlins, Paige 13; Faber, Caitlyn 10; Bradley, Trinity 9

Site: Belmont, NC (Wheeler Center)
Date: 09/28/21       Attend: 220   Time: 1:55