Carrollton, Ga. – September 3, 2005 – Facing a pair of top-15 teams from NAIA and NCAA Division III Saturday, the West Georgia Braves took a big step forward, coming away with a pair of victories. The Braves took down NAIA power Lee 3-0 and D-III Emory 3-0.
Against Lee in the opener, the Braves had to overcome a self-esteem lapse, as the Lady Flames blasted West Georgia last year. But the Braves came out without any apparent jitters, forcing 12 Lee errors en route to a 32-30 Game 1 victory.
In Game two, West Georgia roared out of the gate, jumping out to a 21-12 lead quickly. Siha Collins showed her leadership ability with three straight aces at one point during the game. But it was senior star Stephanie Singleton who got the final kill of the game for a 30-24 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third game was more of the same as the Braves jumped out 12-7 and cruised to a 30-25 win to move to 5-0 on the year.
Carolin Schoeneck was outstanding in the final game, collecting nine of her match-high 15 kills in Game 3. Collins was also big, with nine kills at a 38 percent clip.
The loss put a fire under Lee, as the Lady Eagles came out smoking in the second match of the day against Emory. The Lady flames took down the Eagles in game one 31-29 and 30-24 in game two. But Emory wasn’t to be denied and rode the strong arm of Katrina Damasco to sweep the final three games as Emory opened their season 1-0. Damasco had 30 kills on the day.
It was a similar result in the nightcap, as the Eagles came out firing on all cylinders against the Braves in the final match of the day. Emory held the Braves to 14 percent hitting in Game 1 in a 30-17 win.
But the tables turned in the second game as Singleton stepped up. The senior had 20 kills to lead all players in the match, hitting at a 30 percent clip. The Braves won the final three games 30-28, 30-2 and 31-29 to run their record to 6-0 on the season.
Record book update . . . Singleton now has at 1,329 kills, 40 short of Teresa Painis career record of 1,369 . . . She also sits at second place in career service aces with 192, and is 21 away from the record . . . Singleton’s digs record continues to grow, as she now has 1,074 in her career . . . Siha Collins also had a great weekend, moving up to seventh on the all-time blocks list with 225 . . . with 12 more blocks, she will move into sixth, passing Alana Renaud.