Lady Barons reach 20-win mark with sweep

MOUNT VERNON -- The Brewton-Parker College volleyball team reached the 20-win mark for the second straight year with a 3-0 sweep of Brenau University in Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference action Saturday at the Student Activities Center.

"That was a match we had to win to stay in the middle of the conference pack," said Lady Barons coach Jason Bryant, whose team (20-13 overall, 5-4 GACC) won two of three matches overall last week after splitting a pair of GACC matches.

Faulkner University (Ala.) had evened BPC's conference record with a 3-0 setback on Oct. 29, a day after the Lady Barons swept Claflin University 3-0 in a non-conference match at Orangeburg, S.C.

Junior outside hitter Latika Thomas of Gainesville, Fla., had 13 kills and two solo blocks in the match against Brenau, and senior setter Jeni Paul of Woodstock had a week-high 40 assists. Also, junior middle hitter KC Cheshire of Marietta had three service aces, and freshman setter Elizabeth Hinely of Savannah had 15 digs.

Against Faulkner, "we did not make plays when we had to," Bryant said. Despite the loss, Cheshire had 17 kills while Paul made 31 aces and freshman middle hitter Jessica Ulin of Richmond Hill served four aces. Thomas and freshman defensive specialist Debbie Sooter of Meridian, Idaho, had 14 digs apiece.

In what Bryant called "a much-needed win" against Claflin, one that broke a four-match losing streak, Cheshire had 12 kills, Paul made 32 assists and Ulin served four aces.

The Lady Barons began a busy final week of GACC regular-season play Tuesday with a visit to Americus to play conference leader Georgia Southwestern State University (8-0).

Brewton-Parker finishes its GACC schedule this weekend, beginning with a 7 p.m. match Friday against Reinhardt College that, because of the basketball Tip-Off Classic, will be played in the Parker Gymnasium.

The Lady Barons then play Southern Wesleyan University (S.C.) at 11 a.m. Saturday back in the Student Activities Center, where the seven GACC teams will convene next week for the conference postseason tournament Nov. 13-15.

-BPC-

Brewton-Parker College junior hitter Latika Thomas of Gainesville, Fla., leaps high for a spike against Brenau University in the Lady Barons' 3-0 conference victory Saturday at the Student Activites Center on the Brewton-Parker campus in Mount Vernon. (Photo by Charles Conkin)