RALEIGH, N.C. – After an undefeated opening weekend at the Fifth Set Invitational, the Catawba women's volleyball team traveled to Shaw for its first road competition of the season. The Catawba Indians downed the Bears by a final score of 3-1 behind a dominant rally.
Catawba (4-0) was led by
Lillie Kate Rogers who recorded 15 kills on a .448 hitting percentage, seven digs, two blocks and two service aces. Junior setter
Camden Bizot turned in a strong performance with 31 assists.
Madi McIlwain notched three blocks and
Riley Hill tallied 22 digs for team-bests defensively.
The blue and white manufactured a .222 team hitting percentage to Shaw's .149. Catawba overpowered the Bears in the aces category (18-8) and the digs department (54-47). The blocks battle was even at seven apiece.
Shaw (0-5) jumped out to an early 12-5 first set lead before Rogers would go on her own 3-0 run with a kill followed by two service aces. The Bears took the momentum back to build a 22-17 lead.
Sofia Beard would ignite a Catawba comeback attempt with a kill followed by three straight aces from
Lauren Patrick. Shaw, however hung on to take the first stanza by a 25-22 margin.
The Catawba Indians quickly flipped the script in the second frame by outscoring the Bears 25-18 behind a combined 11 kills from Rogers and
Rebekah Ayers.
The blue and white capitalized on 12 Shaw errors before Bizot closed the door with a kill to take the third set 25-17.
Shaw applied pressure early in the fourth set, claiming a 6-2 lead.
Rebekah Ayers then delivered seven of her 13 kills the rest of the way and Catawba cruised to a 23-9 run to pick up its fourth victory of the season.
Catawba's 4-0 record marks the best start to a season the program has seen since 2009.
The Catawba Indians will open South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday, September 5th when they host UVA Wise at 2 p.m. at Goodman Arena.
