BRISTOL, TN – In a tightly contested Conference Carolinas Tournament semifinal match, the top-seeded Francis Marion University women's volleyball program fell 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11) in a five-set thriller to No. 4 seed North Greenville University on Saturday night (Nov. 22) in the Student Center Complex on the campus of King University.
The Patriots finish the 2025 season with a 21-10 overall record after claiming the Conference Carolinas East Division, posting a conference-best 18-2 regular-season mark, and being featured in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional rankings the previous two weeks.
FMU junior outside hitter
Madilyn Gartner, the Conference Carolinas Player of the Year, delivered an outstanding performance, tallying a career-high 25 kills with one ace, one block, and five digs. Senior middleblocker
Caroline Lucas finished with 17 kills on a .277 hitting percentage while registering three blocks and a career-best 10 digs. Junior right-side hitter
Camryn Faggart totaled 14 kills, three blocks, and five digs against the Trailblazers, while junior outside hitter
Allison Miller posted a kill/dig double-double with 10 kills and 17 digs.
Senior setter
Mya Mendoza directed the offense with 33 assists and 11 digs, while freshman
Aubrey Johnson also registered an assist/dig double-double (26 assists, 10 digs). Senior libero
Katie Floyd led the defensive effort with a season-high 26 digs and tallied seven assists. Redshirt junior
Kayla Clayworth finished with a career-best 25 digs on Saturday night.
Despite NGU establishing an early 13-8 lead in the first set, the Patriots countered with a 10-4 run behind a pair of kills by Lucas to take an 18-17 edge. The Trailblazers rallied to grab the lead late at 21-19 before FMU scored four unanswered points. With the match tied at 24-24, Francis Marion registered consecutive points, including a kill by Faggart, to seal the first set, 26-24.
In the second set, North Greenville once again held an early advantage at 13-11, but the Patriots responded with an 8-2 run to take the lead, 19-15. The Trailblazers answered back with six-straight points to regain the lead at 21-19 and never looked back to earn the 25-23 second-set win.
Francis Marion built its lead at the beginning of the third set behind four kills by Lucas to hold a 13-9 edge. NGU slowly chipped away at the lead, cutting the deficit to 19-18 before the Patriots scored three of the next four points, 22-19. The Trailblazers rallied with four consecutive points, but FMU countered with three straight points to earn a 25-23 victory.
In the fourth set, the Patriots held an early lead before North Greenville battled back, with the match tied four times before reaching 15-15. Despite FMU taking a 17-15 lead, NGU's offense found momentum and pulled away to win the set by a 25-23 margin.
The Patriots responded with a quick 4-2 edge in the fifth set, but the Trailblazers scored seven of the next nine points to grab a 9-6 advantage. Francis Marion rallied to tie the contest at 11-11 before NGU scored four unanswered points to secure a 15-11 victory.
Lucas climbed into fifth place all-time with 1,179 career kills at Francis Marion, while earning 13th position on the career blocks list with 299. Floyd joined exclusive company, becoming just the sixth player in program history to surpass 1,500 career digs, and finished at 1,503. Mendoza finished 13th in career assists at FMU with 1,418.
