BANNER ELK, NC - The Lees-McRae women's volleyball team took another step towards capturing their tenth consecutive conference title in as many years, defeating third place Conference Carolinas opponent Coker College in a three game sweep on their home court.  The win puts Lees-McRae at the top of the conference with a 16-3 record (22-11 overall.)  The Cobras drop to 14-6 (17-15 overall).

The Lady Bobcats came out ready to play in their third of four match homestand, knowing that a win would clinch at least a share in the regular season conference title.  Lees-McRae took an early 10-3 lead forcing Coker to take a timeout in hopes of regaining some momentum.  However, the Lady Bobcats refused to let up, pressing on until the Cobras took another timeout at 22-15, then wrapping the game up 30-23.

Game two of the match was a battle from the beginning with the lead going back and forth between the two teams.  Nearly halfway through the game senior Davianna Metti (Cordoba, Argentina) sent a kill crashing over the net which was followed by a saving dig by freshman Tracey Copley (Virginia Beach, VA) that fired up the Lady Bobcats.  However, the Cobras were not ready to give the game up yet and eventually gained a  two point lead at 26-24.  A big block by senior Natalie Burns (Orlando, FL) and Copley tied the game at 28-28.  The Lady Bobcats then held on to win 31-29.

Game three was much like game one in that Lees-McRae stepped out to a big lead, forcing the Cobras once again to take an early timeout.  This time the Bobcats forged ahead, sealing the match with a decisive 30-18 third game win.

Senior Davianna Metti again led the Lady Bobcats with 10 kills and 14 digs for the match.  Freshman Whitney Kiser (Connelly Springs, NC) had ten kills while senior Caty Honey (Geneva, IL) hit .600 with seven kills.  Freshman Kell Bogdan (Leawood, KS) led the Bobcats with 17 digs while Katie Legg (Alta Loma, CA) added to her block totals with a solo and an assist on the evening.  Lauren Dickover (Las Vegas, NV) had 36 assists in the three game match.

The Lady Bobcats were serving up aces in their pursuit of a tenth conference championship.  Natalie Burns served five, while Copley and Dickover added three apiece.  Head Coach Jamie Petrik commented,  "I thought the key to our win was our tough serving.  Natalie and Tracey had big service runs in games one and three."

For the Cobras it was Margaret Madison leading the team with 12 kills.  Megan Haupt added nine as did Kristin Teets.  Teets also tallied thee blocks for the night.  Courtney Butrym served up four aces and had 12 assists for the match.

The Lady Bobcats face St. Andrews Saturday, November 3 at 2:00 pm in Williams Gymnasium to finish up their regular season schedule, while Coker now has to wait to see who they face in the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday.