FLORENCE, SC – Senior Caroline Lucas and junior Madilyn Gartner combined for 27 kills on Saturday afternoon, as Francis Marion University delivered a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-10, 25-19) versus Southern Wesleyan in Conference Carolinas action at the Smith University Center.

The Patriots complete a perfect 3-0 week in the opening week of league competition, improving to 4-6 overall. FMU collects a sixth-straight win over the Warriors and improves to 12-7 in the all-time series. Francis Marion returns to play on Wednesday, Sept. 24, when it travels to Chowan with the matchup set for 6 p.m.

Southern Wesleyan drops a third match in a row to fall to 2-5 this season with a 0-3 mark in conference play. 

Lucas posted a stellar performance on Saturday with 14 kills on a .636 clip while recording zero attacking errors. Gartner registered double-digit kills for a third-straight match after finishing with 13 kills on a .370 hitting percentage. Freshman McKayla Stockwell and junior Camryn Faggart each tallied six kills on a .333 clip. Freshman Aubrey Johnson led the offensive effort with 31 assists, while senior Mya Mendoza totaled 10 assists.

Defensively, senior Katie Floyd led the defense with 14 digs, her seventh match with double-figure digs. At the net, Lucas totaled three blocks and Stockwell tallied a pair in the win.

The Warriors built a 12-5 lead in the first set after taking advantage of the Patriots' attacking errors. Francis Marion rallied with a 7-3 run behind a pair of kills by Faggart to tie the contest at 15-15. With an 18-17 lead for FMU, the Patriots mounted a 7-1 run to close out the opening set with a trio of kills by Lucas and two service aces from senior Andrea Delcher, 25-18.

In the second set, Francis Marion delivered 17 kills on a staggering .536 hitting percentage with four total blocks. The Patriots established a 7-4 edge over the Warriors before scoring 10 unanswered points to stretch the lead to 17-4. FMU got multiple contributions from newcomers to finish the second set with a 25-10 victory.

Francis Marion quickly climbed out to an 11-5 advantage with Lucas tallying two kills and a solo block in that stretch. The Patriots maintained their lead and extended the score to 19-10 following kills from freshman Skyy Ruben and Gartner. Southern Wesleyan closed the gap to 24-19 late in the third before Lucas registered a kill to seal the win, 25-19.