NEWBERRY, SC – The Francis Marion University women's volleyball completed day two of the second-annual Newberry College Tournament with a win over the host Wolves. 
 
The Patriots concluded the second day of the tournament with a 1-3 record: dropping their match against University of Arkansas Fort Smith 25-14, 25-14, 25-16 earlier Saturday and defeating Newberry in four sets by scores of 25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 25-20.
 
Match vs. University of Arkansas Fort Smith:
 
Junior middle blocker Mo Grigsby led the Patriots with six kills and a .600 hitting percentage. Grigsby put away two blocks for the afternoon.
 
Keeping pace, sophomore middle blocker Caroline Lucas also recorded six kills.  Senior setter Kaylee Gillespie dished out a team-high of 21 assists for Francis Marion.
 
Freshman Ella Quiring posted 14 a team-high digs for the Patriots.
 
Caelyn Gunn put away a game-high of 12 kills for the Lions.
 
Francis Marion fell early in the first set to UAFS, but was able to pull the match within four points. Despite the fight back from FMU, UAFS continued to gain traction and ended set one at a score of 25-14. Early kills in from Grigsby and a ball handling error from Chloe Price put the Patriots ahead by one with a score of 3-2 at the top of set two. It was a back-and-forth battle between both teams to gain control, but UAFS gained a foothold with a four-point run halfway through the second set and went on to win 25-14 once again. In the final set, UAFS was ahead early and would close on FMU with a score of 25-16 in the finishing set.
 
Match Two vs. Newberry College:
 
Sophomore Katie Kemp had a standout game against the Wolves posting 13 kills, one service ace, one block assist, and 21 digs.
 
Lucas finished just short one of tying with Kemp with an additional 12 kills to the Patriots total of 56. Lucas had a .400 hitting percentage in the final game of the tournament.
 
Transfer Kara Walker recorded a strong game on both offense and defense against the Wolves, collecting 11 kills and 15 digs.
 
Gillespie, racked up 47 assists, one block assist, and 19 digs.
 
Leading the Patriots once again, Quiring had a total of 25 digs against the Wolves.
 
The Patriots jumped on top quickly, establishing a four-point lead early on. Kills from Kemp and Lucas would finish out set one with a score of 25-18. Continuing with high energy into the second set, Walker placed the Patriots up by one with a kill. Knotted at 18-18 in the later half of the second set, Lucas and Walker shut out the Wolves by putting away four consecutive kills (assists from Gillespie). A final kill from Kemp ended the set at a score of 25-18. Despite rolling through the first two sets, Newberry continued to fight back and took the third set with a score of 25-21. Ready to end the night, FMU put Newberry in a seven-point deficit to kick off the final set. The Patriots continued to work away at the 25 points and despite a short lull at the end, sealed the game with a final score of 25-22.
 
 
Ark.-Fort Smith def. Francis Marion Univ. 25-14,25-14,25-16
 
Ark.-Fort Smith (4-0,0-0 Lone Star) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Gunn, Caelyn
12-0-1; Macha, Reagan 10-0-0; Anderson, Nyia 9-0-1; Watkins, Hannah
6-0-1; Hardison, Angelina 5-0-2; Price, Chloe 4-0-0; Weber, Lauren
1-1-0; Fragalle, Paola 0-3-0; Lintz, Taylor 0-1-0; Totals 47-5-3.0.
(Assists) - Price, Chloe 34. (Dig leaders) - Fragalle, Paola 21; Gunn,
Caelyn 10
 
Francis Marion Univ. (0-2,0-0 Conference C) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Mo
Grigsby 6-0-2; Caroline Lucas 6-0-1; Ava LaVancha 5-0-1; Madilyn
Gartner 3-0-0; Kara Walker 3-0-0; Katie Kemp 2-0-0; Kaylee Gillespie
0-0-1; Totals 25-0-3.0. (Assists) - Kaylee Gillespie 21. (Dig leaders)
- Ella Quiring 14; Kaylee Gillespie 9
 
Site: Newberry, SC (Eleazer Arena)
Date: 09/02/23       Attend: 50   Time: 1:21   
 
Francis Marion Univ. def. Newberry 25-18,25-19,21-25,25-22
 
Francis Marion Univ. (1-2,0-0 Conference C) (Kills-aces-blocks) -
Katie Kemp 13-1-1; Caroline Lucas 12-1-1; Kara Walker 11-0-1; Ava
LaVancha 11-0-2; Mo Grigsby 5-0-4; Kaylee Gillespie 2-1-1; Ella
Quiring 1-2-0; Madilyn Gartner 1-0-0; Katie Floyd 0-1-0; Totals
56-6-5.0. (Assists) - Kaylee Gillespie 47. (Dig leaders) - Ella
Quiring 23; Katie Kemp 21; Kaylee Gillespie 19; Kara Walker 15; Katie
Floyd 11
 
Newberry (1-3,0-0 SAC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Shaffer, Samantha 15-0-1;
Hall, Taylor 11-0-1; Schneider, Anna 7-3-1; Green, Lindsey 4-0-2;
Brown, Ava 4-0-1; Watson, Madison 3-0-1; Adams, Jacquelyn 3-0-0;
Christensen, Emma 2-0-0; Dill, Annie 1-1-0; McMahon, Margaret 1-0-1;
Gross, Kate 0-1-0; Totals 51-5-5.0. (Assists) - Dill, Annie 27; Gross,
Kate 15. (Dig leaders) - Bradley, Olivia 26; Dill, Annie 17;
Schneider, Anna 16; Hall, Taylor 9
 
Site: Newberry, SC (Eleazer Arena)
Date: 09/02/23       Attend: 75   Time: 1:58