The Lady Lions won their fifth straight in conference and third match of the season against LaGrange with a straight sets victory Wednesday night inside Cave Arena. The win advances Piedmont to 15-8 overall and 7-2 in the USA South.
Demorest, GA – The Piedmont College Lady Lion Volleyball team cruised to a straight sets victory, 3-0, over conference foe LaGrange Wednesday night inside Cave Arena for their fifth straight USA South victory. This marks the third time this season and the second time in conference play that Piedmont has bested the Panthers this season.
The Lady Lions fell behind early in the first set but battled back to even the score at 12 before taking the lead 13-12 and from that point on never trailed in the first set which was a 25-22 win. In the second set, Piedmont led the entire way winning 25-16 before a tough third set. It took extra points in the final set but the Lady Lions outlasted the Panthers to win 26-24.
“We put ourselves in a good position for the rest of the year,” Head Coach Sid Feldman said. “LaGrange will have to play some good volleyball to take our position away from going to the conference championship. We also took a step toward a 20-win season.”
Leading the way for the Lady Lions was Jennifer Opper who tallied nine kills along with teammate Taylor Cramsey. Opper hit an outstanding .615 in the match with only one error, earning the attention of her coach.
“She is a real placement hitter and a very smart hitter. She doesn’t have to hit the ball hard, she understands that,” Feldman said. “You don’t cheer when she gets a kill because the ball just falls gently to the ground, but guess what? You still get a point.”
Heather LaPrade started at libero and had a match-high 13 digs while Xandy Green and Kait Steele split the majority of the assists with 17 and 14 respectively. Piedmont tallied 41 kills in the match while holding LaGrange to only 26 as a team.
“We played a little sluggish and a little tentative,” Feldman said. “We are going to have to get our act together quickly to go play Methodist this weekend.”
The Lady Lions will put their five match USA South win streak on the line as they take on both Methodist and Meredith this weekend in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Saturday. Piedmont and Methodist square off at noon and the Lady Lions will take on Meredith following that match at 2 p.m.
