Dec. 4, 2009

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Lee (Tenn.) defeated Taylor (Ind.) in five dramatic sets, 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 21-25, 15-10, Friday to advance to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Presented by Siouxland Sports Medicine Foundation in the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.

The Lady Flames improve to 39-5 on the season and will face third-seeded Northwestern (Iowa) (36-2) at 8 p.m. Friday. The match will be video-streamed at www.watchnaia.com and live stats will be available here. Taylor’s season comes to a close with a record of 37-7.

Lee looked to have control of the match early, storming out with a .378 hitting percentage in the first set. Even though the Lady Flames cooled to a .229 clip in the second set, Taylor was on the verge of taking the set and finally did so with their backs against the wall in the third. The Trojans out-hit Lee .171 to .158 to take the critical set. In the end it was Lee’s hot hitting in the decisive set that clinched the win.

For the second-straight match, the Lady Flames had four players finish with double-figure kills. Milica Krsmanovic and Stephanie Todd each slammed down 19 kills, while Christa Hutchison and Kayla Carlisle registered 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Kelsey Leffew directed the attack by handing out 32 assists, followed by Gretchen Higdon with 26. Five players finished with double-figure dig marks, guided by Sara Smith with 22 and Todd with 21, to capture her third double-double in Sioux City.

Three players had finished with double-figure kill marks, but it was not enough to lift the Trojans past Lee, forcing Taylor exit from its first single-elimination appearance since 1997. Kelsey Pritchard played a vital role in Taylor’s comeback, logging 20 kills, followed by Jackie Geile with 14 and Rachel Kizer with 11. Betsy Brown orchestrated the offense by dishing out 49 assists.