Peele Leads Davidson Past Citadel, 3-1, on Senior Night

Saturday, November 6

Davidson, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

The Citadel (Senior Day)

Peele Leads Davidson Past Citadel, 3-1, on Senior Night

11/6/2010 9:21:22 PM | Volleyball

By: Lauren Biggers -- Assistant SID

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- In her final appearance in Belk Arena, senior Sarabeth Peele's fifth double-double of the season led the Davidson Wildcats to a 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-17, 25-17) win over The Citadel Bulldogs Saturday night in SoCon volleyball action.

Peele finished with a match-high 18 kills to go along with 12 digs to lead Davidson (16-15, 7-7). Also in her home finale, senior setter Hayley Lawson turned in a double-double of her own with 38 assists and a team-high 14 digs. Junior middle blocker Madison Benedict added nine kills and finished with five blocks, and senior middle blocker Jorden Benedict tallied eight kills and four blocks, as the Wildcats finished with 10 team blocks. Davidson also had 11 service aces, with three each from Peele and sophomore Molly Crenshaw.

Jessica Maas had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs to lead The Citadel (6-23, 1-13). Amanda Beal, Cassie Uribe and Rachel Farrell, who also led the defense with a match-high 18 digs, each finished with eight kills for the Bulldogs. Erin Bucheri finished with 23 assists, and both Maas and Kathryn Johnston had 10 digs.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-1 lead to open the match on kills from Jorden Benedict and Lawson and four from Peele. The Bulldogs battled back, putting together a 5-0 run on a pair of scores by Uribe and one from Beal to close Davidson's lead to 14-11. The Citadel held that margin as kills from Maas and Kaona Mercer pushed it to 18-15, but the 'Cats closed out the set with a 7-1 run as Peele rattled off two aces to win the set 25-16.

Davidson won the first four to start the second set, but the Bulldogs won the next five in the middle of an 8-1 run to grab an 8-5 lead. Davidson got the set knotted at 10 on an ace from Chamblee, and the teams tied six times over the middle of the set. The Bulldogs took a 22-20 lead on a kill from Uribe, but the Wildcats looked in control, winning the next three to go ahead 23-22 on a kill from Peele and a pair of Citadel errors. Rachel Farrell tied the set, but Peele pushed it back in Davidson's favor, 24-23. The Bulldogs, though, finished with a 3-0 run to take the 26-24 win and even the match at a set each.

After the break, Davidson took a 9-3 lead and fought off a charge from the Bulldogs, who pulled within two at 10-8 on two kills from Uribe. The Wildcats answered with an 8-3 run, including three from Madison Benedict and an ace by Lawson as part of a 4-0 run, to push the lead to 18-11. A pair of kills from freshman Caroline Brown and another from Peele led Davidson to a 25-17 win in the set to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Wildcats grabbed a 12-6 lead in the final set and closed out with a 6-1 run, and Crenshaw's back-to-back aces clinched the 25-15 win for the match.

Davidson will wrap up regular-season play this week when it travels to Georgia Southern for a 6 p.m. match Tuesday, before finishing with a 6 p.m. match at Chattanooga Saturday. The 2010 SoCon Tournament gets underway in Boone on Nov. 19.