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Lynchburg, Virginia – The Camels defeated the Liberty Flames in five sets (25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 14-25, 15-13) and move to 11-15 on the season and 5-7 in the Big South. Katelyn Layden led the attack with 15 kills and Mary Crema recorded her season-high 33 digs against the third place Flames.
"We struggled offensively all afternoon," said head coach Greg Goral. "Liberty played tremendous defense recording 114 digs and they made it very hard to get the ball to hit the floor. We did a very nice job putting pressure on with our swings and got points when we really needed them."
"I was so impressed with the team's mindset in game five," Goral said. "They composed themselves extremely well and came back to win the game. We had 12 kills and no errors, which I do not think we have ever done. We played with a better sense of urgency and I was impressed with the teams approach."
"Our seniors really helped set the tone of the weekend. Their leadership kept the team composed and really made an impact," said Goral.
Jenny Tait and Jessica Stocking each recorded 10 kills in addition to Layden's 15. McKenzie Fell stopped eight attacks finishing the night with one solo block and seven assisted. Rebecca Ramirez and Summer Schuitema both set up 22 assists. The Camels earned seven service aces and now have 149 on the season.
Jade Vorster led the attack for the Flames with 16 attacks and Caroline Douglas contributed 15 more. Five Flames recorded double-digit digs with Margaret Latchford collecting 27 digs to lead the team.
The Camels jumped out to an early 9-5 lead over the Flames in the first set. Liberty came back to tie the game at 12 all and both teams proceeded to trade points until the Campbell gained a one-point advantage (22-21) on an error by Anna Willey. The Camels held off the Flames and won the set 25-23 on a kill by Jessica Stocking for the set point. Stocking contributed six kills for the Camels while Crema had eight digs and Kayla Schanback added seven of her own.
Both teams traded points battling for control of the second set. Campbell gained a two-point lead (10-8) on an ace by Layden. The Flames came back on an 8-2 run leading 19-13 as the Camels called a timeout. The Orange and Black pulled within three (21-18) of the home team but ran out of time to catch Liberty who won the set 25-20.
Set three saw 16 ties and eight lead changes as the teams fought for control of the game. Campbell went up by one point eleven times until they managed to go up by two (19-17) as Liberty called a timeout. The Camels held their lead, but the Flames chipped away at the Camels lead to tie the game at 21 all. Two Layden kills and two Liberty errors gave Campbell the final four points to close out the third set 25-21. Layden finished with six kills in the set while Crema and Schanback combined for nine digs.
Liberty came out in the fourth set knowing they needed to win to force a fifth set. Campbell trailed the home team who went on an 11-4 run putting the score at 15-8 on a kill by Sirena Vorster. The Camels scored on a couple of kills and an ace but could not come back from behind as the Flames won the fourth set 25-14. Vorster and Douglas each had three kills for the Flames while Tait and Layden combined for six kills themselves.
The fifth set started out with both teams going point-for-point. Liberty gained a two-point lead (9-7) on a kill by Caroline Douglas. Tait followed with a kill of her own to bring the Camels within one as the Flames called a timeout. Campbell trailed by three points (12-9) but consecutive kills and an ace tied the game up with Ramirez back to serve. The Orange and Black took the lead 14-13 for set point on a kill by Harty and won the game with a final kill from Stocking (15-13). The Camels finished the fifth set with 12 kills and no errors for a .414 attack percentage.
Campbell returns home to close its season on Nov. 12 and 14. The Camels host the league leaders Coastal Carolina on Thursday the 12th at 7 p.m. and Charleston Southern on the 14th for Senior Day with a 4 p.m. first serve.
