BRISTOL, TN – Middleblockers Kaytlin Smart and Caroline Lucas combined for 20 kills on only 27 swings to power Francis Marion University to a 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 road win over King University (Tenn.), Friday evening (Nov. 1) in Conference Carolinas volleyball action.
 
Francis Marion continues its dominant play as of late, improving to 13-11 overall and 11-3 in league play.  The Patriots have won 11 straight matches, and more impressively have won 33 of their last 36 sets.
 
FMU will play Lees-McRae College on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, N.C.
 
Smart tallied 11 kills and a .733 hitting percentage – fifth highest in team history and the best single-match figure since 2003 – while Lucas had nine kills and a .667 hitting percentage.  Lucas also registered a team-high three blocks.  Senior Kara Walker and sophomore Chaney Barth added seven and six kills respectively.
 
Junior setter Mya Mendoza dished out 37 assists and served five aces.  Walker led FMU defensively with nine digs, while junior libero Katie Floyd and Barth each recorded eight digs.
 
Francis Marion hit .407 as a team with only eight attacking errors.
 
Gracia Love led the Tornado (7-10, 5-8) with 15 kills.
 
In the opening set, Francis Marion led by only 20-17, but Smart started and ended a 5-2 spurt with kills off Mendoza sets to give FMU the early advantage. The Patriots overcame an early 7-4 deficit in the second set with a 10-2 run and cruised to a 25-18 victory.  Smart and Lucas posted kills to open the third set and FMU never trailed en route to the clinching 25-21 win.