WALTERBORO, S.C. — With all, but two players in its line up, the Catawba Valley Community College volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 conference victory against USC Salkehatchie on Wednesday afternoon.
Freshman Adair Melton continued her trend of stellar play of late, tallying nine kills and four aces, and playing in her first game since the season opener, sophomore middle hitter Leslie Leonard added eight kills.
Fellow freshman Karsyn Mundy, who saw her first action of the season due to injury, added six kills.
"It was nice to have a few of our players back," said CVCC head volleyball coach Shannon Hudson. "We had Leslie Leonard back at middle (hitter). She's been out with a concussion, so it was good to have her back in the game. We had Na-Diea (Atkins) come in for the first time. We just kind of eased her into it and let her play some right side. She looked really good. Karsyn (Mundy) was back in the outside hitter spot. It was nice to have a few key pieces back."
The Red Hawks had stellar play on serve, tallying 14 aces in Wednesday's match, including a team-high four by Katie Rupp. Defensively at the net, captain Ramsey Fulmer registered five blocks.
CVCC rushed out to a 2-0 lead in the match, winning set one, 25-5, and set two, 25-3.
Trying to avoid the shutout, the Redskins battled closely with the Red Hawks in the early stages of the third set before being overtaken and falling 25-12.
The Red Hawks return to the court on Tuesday with a road non-conference match against Spartanburg Methodist.
CVCC was originally scheduled to compete at the Pasco-Hernando Bobcat Invitational in Dale City, Fla., but the event was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma.
"We're disappointed that we aren't going to get to go to Florida for the Pasco tournament this weekend," Hudson said. "We were looking forward to some competition down there, but It'll be be nice to have a few more days in practice and work on a couple of things now that we have our pieces back in place. It's not a total loss. We are upset that (Hurricane) Irma has kind of interrupted our plans, but we are trying to keep things in perspective. We know a lot of people are going to be in harm's way with the storm. We are definitely praying for them and for all the schools that are involved in that mess that's going on."
