Falcons Close out Regular Season with 3-0 Win

MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The University of Montevallo women's volleyball team (19-13, 8-6 PBC) closed out the 2009 regular season with a 3-0 sweep of Lander University (17-14, 5-9 PBC). The Falcons will now head to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed and take on host USC Aiken who is the fifth seed. Today's match was also Senior Day for four Flacons who played their final regular season match at BankTrust Arena. The volleyball program honored CarsonAnderson (Chattanooga, Tenn./Baylor), Katy Handrick (De Pere, Wisc./De Pere), Katie Johnson (Alabaster, Ala./Thompson) and Lauren Markle (Metamora, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame).

The Falcons jumped out to a quick lead in the first set and rode that momentum to a 25-17 win. In the second set it was a back-and-forth contest for the first 40 points but once it got to 20-20 the Falcons took over and scored five of the final six points to win 25-21. The third set was the toughest set of the three as both teams refused to allow the other team to take much of an advantage. It took eight extra points to decide a winner as Montevallo won 30-28.

The Falcons were led by Anderson and Johnson who each had double-digit kills. Anderson had 14 kills, two service aces and three blocks in her final match on the BankTrust Arena floor. She also hit an impressive .458. Johnson had 13 kills and nine digs.

Sophomore setter Anna Garrison (LaVergne, Tenn./LaVergne) led the team in assists, service aces and digs with 40, 3 and 19, respectively. Freshman Brittany Wilson (Floyds Knobs, Ind./Floyd Central) chipped in 17 digs while Handrick had nine kills and 12 digs.

Sophomore defensive specialist Rachel Wotitzky (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte) had nine digs.

The Falcons will return to the court Friday, Nov. 13 at 3:00 p.m. as they travel to USC Aiken for the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The Falcons will take on host Aiken who they swept this season.