YOUNG HARRIS, GA - Junior outside hitter
Madilyn Gartner had a commanding presence with 18 kills as Francis Marion University swept Young Harris College (25-15, 25-18, 25-23) on the Mountain Lions' Senior Day in The Harp Recreation & Commencement Center on Saturday (Oct. 25) afternoon.
Francis Marion improves its record to 16-8 overall and is 13-1 in conference play, while Young Harris falls to 8-16 and 5-11. The Patriots return home on Wednesday as they face the Barton College Bulldogs with a start time of 4 p.m.
Gartner committed only three attacking errors on 36 swings for a .417 hitting percentage. Other standouts for the Patriots included senior middleblocker
Caroline Lucas with 12 kills and junior outside hitter
Allison Miller with eight kills paired with 11 digs.
FMU freshman setter
Aubrey Johnson led the match with 32 assists and added 12 digs, while redshirt junior
Kayla Clayworth anchored the defense with 14 digs, joined by senior libero
Katie Floyd, who tallied 13.
Junior right-side hitter
Camryn Faggart, along with Miller and Lucas, powered the offense to give FMU an 8-3 start before Johnson added fuel to the fire in set one. It was the 6-1 stretch that helped Francis Marion pull away from Young Harris thanks to the help of freshman middleblocker
McKayla Stockwell and Gartner to secure the set win, 25-15.
Gartner made her presence known early in set two where she scored the opening point, the first of her eight kills in this set alone. Young Harris had five unanswered points in retaliation, however FMU responded with a 7-3 run due to contributions from Miller and Lucas to win the set with a score of 25-18.
The Mountain Lions battled throughout set three and it started with an 8-2 advantage over the Patriots. It was not long before Francis Marion dished back eight consecutive points to reclaim the lead, 10-8, as Miller and Lucas were the frontrunners of this stretch. FMU regained control of the match thanks to Gartner and Faggart, Young Harris mishaps, and a block from Johnson and Lucas. None other than Gartner delivered the final kill to declaw the Mountain Lions and win the gritty set of 25-23 and secured the sweep.
