Pirates sweep Patriots from PBC Tournament

Brendyce Budd recorded three consecutive kills to snap a 21-21 deadlock in set three and Armstrong Atlantic State University went on to down Francis Marion University in three games 25-13, 25-21, 25-22, Friday afternoon (Nov. 13) in the quarterfinal round of the Peach Belt Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament.

Francis Marion ends its season with an 11-20 record, while the Pirates (25-8) advance to Saturday's semifinal round.  FMU entered the tournament as the seventh seed, while AASU was seeded second.

Sophomore Ashlee Crook led Francis Marion with 10 kills in 26 attempts, while also serving a pair of aces.  Senior setter Jess O'Leary, playing her final match, handed out 19 assists and ended her career with 1,528 helpers.  Junior libero Kelsie Deaton registered a team-high 13 digs and served two aces.  Sophomore Ashlyn Underhill added four service aces and six digs.

Budd tallied 11 kills and hit .381 for the match to lead AASU. Kathrin Standhardinger hit .556 with 10 kills on 18 errorless swings, while adding six digs and three blocks. Kristin Standhardinger dished out 39 assists, while Casey Howett dug up 13 balls.

The Pirates took the first set 25-13 after using an early 10-2 run to gain control. AASU earned the first four points of the run without tallying a kill as consecutive attack errors by the Patriots, a ball handling error, and a service ace ignited the run.

In the second set, Francis Marion trailed 10-4, but rallied to pull to within two at 20-18.  Crook contributed four kills to the Patriot rally, but the Pirates withstood the charge for the 25-21 win.

Francis Marion held the lead for most of set three, but the Pirates rallied to go ahead for good at 22-21 thanks to the first of Budd's three kills, and scored four of the last five points to win 25-22.