WINGATE, NC (Sept. 6) – On the final day of the Bulldog Classic hosted at Wingate University, the Patriots suffered a pair of losses on Saturday, falling 3-2 in a hard-fought match versus Lewis before dropping a 3-0 decision to the host No. 17 Bulldogs at Cuddy Arena.
FMU sits at 1-3 overall following the season-opening tournament and faced opponents from three different conferences. The Patriots also competed against a trio of NCAA Tournament teams from 2024 in USC Aiken, Lewis and Wingate.
Against Lewis (2-1) of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), Francis Marion saw a comeback bid fall short in a five-set thriller via a 3-2 loss (25-23, 25-17, 15-25, 19-25, 16-14) on Saturday morning. The Flyers were selected as the preseason favorite in the GLVC and were receiving votes in the AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II poll.
Senior
Caroline Lucas produced a stellar performance with 15 kills on a .464 hitting percentage with two aces, seven blocks, and four digs. Junior
Madilyn Gartner paced the Patriots with 16 kills while adding two blocks and three digs. Fellow junior
Allison Miller delivered double-digit kills for the third-straight match after recording 15 kills, three service aces, three blocks, and seven digs. Senior
Mya Mendoza guided the offense with an assist/dig double-double behind 23 assists and 10 digs. Freshman
Aubrey Johnson also registered an assist/dig double-double with 18 assists and 11 digs against the Flyers.
Senior
Katie Floyd led the Patriots defensively with a game-high 21 digs while adding three assists. Redshirt junior
Kayla Clayworth also contributed double-figure digs with 10 in the loss. At the net, Lucas paced FMU with seven blocks while sophomore
Ella Curbow and junior
Camryn Faggart tallied five and four blocks, respectively.
Against nationally-ranked Wingate of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC), FMU suffered a 3-0 loss (22-25, 22-25, 16-25) in its final match at the season-opening Bulldog Classic. Lucas tied for the team lead with nine kills on a .450 clip while tallying five digs and one block. Faggart also contributed nine kills on a .318 hitting percentage, and Miller finished the match with eight kills, one ace, one block, and 10 digs. Mendoza directed the offense with 17 assists, while Johnson totaled 16 assists for the Patriots.
Defensively, Clayworth led FMU with 14 digs and Floyd followed close behind with 13 digs.
Francis Marion is set to return to the court next week at the Pacer Invitational (Sept. 12-13) with an opening match scheduled on Friday versus Carson-Newman at 3 p.m. on the campus of USC Aiken.
