Brown, Ley's Career Highs Lead Davidson to 3-0 Shutout of Mercer in Season-Opener

Friday, August 26

Rock Hill, S.C.

5:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

Mercer

Sophomore Caroline Brown

Brown, Ley's Career Highs Lead Davidson to 3-0 Shutout of Mercer in Season-Opener

8/26/2011 7:16:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Lauren Biggers -- Assistant SID

Box Score

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Sophomore outside hitter Caroline Brown and junior setter Ariel Ley recorded career highs to lead the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-19) shutout of the Mercer Bears in both team's season-opener Friday night in the opening match of the Winthrop Classic.

Brown finished with 15 kills on 33 attempts to lead Davidson (1-0), bettering her previous career high of nine against Georgia Southern on November 9 last season. Ley, whose previous career best of 22 assists was against Stetson on August 28, 2010, finished with a double-double of 39 assists and 10 digs. Senior outside hitter Christine Perzinski and sophomore middle hitter Tindall Sewell each finished with nine kills.

Mercer (0-1) was led by Amiee Frutchey's nine kills, and Monica Sanchez finished with 17 assists. Charlotte Harris tallied 10 digs to pace the Bears defense.

“The team performed the way they have trained all preseason,” head coach Chris Willis said. “It was a total group effort. We couldn't have asked for anything more.”

In the opening set, the Wildcats busted up an 8-8 tie with a 9-2 run to take a 17-10 lead. Sewell, Brown, Perzinski and sophomore Taylor Pisel each recorded a kill during the spurt. The teams traded points until Davidson put away three straight on back-to-back kills from Sewell and Brown and a Bear hitting error to pull ahead 23-14. Senior middle hitter Madison Benedict's second kill of the set lifted the Wildcats to a 25-16 victory.

The second set featured nine ties before Davidson used a late run to take a 2-0 lead in the match. After starting as a back-and-forth affair, the 'Cats look a slight lead, 7-5, on a kill by Perzinski. Four Davidson errors put the Bears ahead 9-8, but Davidson regrouped after a timeout and rattled off four straight points to reclaim the 12-9 advantage. Mercer knotted the set again with two kills from Frutchey and a service ace from Sanchez, and the score stayed tied until Davidson took a 19-16 lead on kills from Benedict and Perzinski and an ace by Benedict. The Bears won the next point on a serving error, but would get no closer than 19-17. The 'Cats closed with a 6-3 run to take the second set, 25-20.

Davidson jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the final set behind kills from Sewell and Brown before falling behind 9-11 on the Bear's 9-4 run. But after a timeout, the Wildcats took complete control behind a 10-0 run, featuring a pair of kills from Brown and one each for Perzinski and Sewell. Mercer responded with their own, winning seven of the next 10 points to narrow the gap to 22-18, but Davidson's lead held. The Wildcats went 3-1 to close the match, and Sewell put away the winner for the 25-19 victory.

Davidson will return with a pair of matches tomorrow at the Winthrop Classic, taking on UNC Wilmington at 10 a.m. and host Winthrop in the tournament finale at 7 p.m.