MOUNT OLIVE, NC – Senior middleblocker
Caroline Lucas tallied a season-high 23 kills with a .526 hitting percentage to lead Francis Marion University to a 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-19 road win over the University of Mount Olive, Tuesday night (Nov. 11) in Conference Carolinas volleyball play.
Francis Marion concludes its regular season with a 21-9 overall mark and an 18-2 conference record. The Patriots earn the outright East Division title and will be the top seed for the upcoming conference tournament. FMU will next play in the semifinals at 5 p.m. on Nov. 22 in Bristol, Tenn.
Lucas' kill total was one shy of her career high set in 2023. With 1,162 career kills, she also moved to within four of entering the Top 5 on the FMU career kills list. With two blocks against the Trojans, Lucas also moved into a tie for 13th position on the career blocks list with 296, along with Caroline Boone and Michelle Settergren..
Junior
Madilyn Gartner followed Lucas with 13 kills, while junior
Allison Miller and freshman
McKayla Stockwell had eight kills apiece.
Freshman setter
Aubrey Johnson directed a Patriot offense that hit .316 as a team with 45 assists, while senior libero
Katie Floyd and senior
Andrea Delcher paced the FMU defense with 12 digs each, while Miller dug up 10 balls.
In the opening set, kills from Lucas and Gartner and a Mount Olive attacking error allowed Francis Marion to snap a 22-22 deadlock and claim the 25-23 victory.
Trailing 13-12 in the second set, FMU took the lead for good with a 4-0 run that eventually became an 11-3 spurt. Junior
Camryn Faggart provided the final point in a 25-19 win.
After UMO claimed the third set, the Trojans recorded the opening point of set No.4. However, Francis Marion ran off eight of the next 10 points to lead 8-3. The Trojans rallied to tie the match at 11-11, but a kill from Faggart and two UMO attacking errors regained the lead for the Patriots at 14-11. Francis Marion closed the set on a 7-3 spurt, including two kills from Gartner, to end the match with a 25-19 win.
