Morristown, Tenn. — If Southwest Virginia came into 'Z' Buda Gymnasium thinking they could pull off an upset, they were sorely mistaken. Walters State dominated the match from the first serve, sweeping the Flying Eagles out of Morristown, 3-0 (25-11, 25-11 and 25-12).

For coach Megan Blaylock, the victory was a chance for her team to put some recent bad habits behind them.

"They (Southwest Virginia) are a first-year program, so you could tell they were getting their feet under them a little bit," Blaylock said. "Tonight we learned how to finish out a match and to not mess around. We've had some problems with that, recently. We'll get a chance to close it out and we can't finish. We've been emphasizing that in practice and we were able to do it tonight."

The Lady Senators (7-4) were able to spread the ball around, getting ladies that don't normally get a lot of minutes onto the floor for key stretches of the game. Walters State saw 10 different players record stats in the game.

Not only that, but Blaylock used the opportunity to experiment with some line ups that might be useful once TJCCAA play begins next Tuesday against Cleveland State.

"Everybody got some really good playing time tonight, so that was great," Blaylock said. "It's always good to be able to sub in and out and work on different rotations. We had some kids playing different positions tonight that they don't normally play in. To do that in a game setting and not just practice is good."

Southwest Virginia (1-4) could never string points together and was no match for the Lady Senators work at the net.

Freshman Olivia Oxendine (Pensacola, Fla.) once again led Walters State with 11 kills and added four blocks.

Freshmen Jania Hill (Morristown, Tenn.), Alaysia McGhee (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Hannah Daniel (Bristol, Tenn.) all recorded four kills apiece.

Sophomore Alexis Wakefield (Portland, Tenn.) shoveled up 12 digs, Freshman Gracie Smith (Church Hill, Tenn.) recorded eight, Hill and sophomore Courtney Dotson (Greeneville, Tenn.) had seven each and freshman Aubrey Cobb (Church Hill, Tenn.) put five in the stat sheet.  

The Lady Senators are back in action Friday when they travel to Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga. to take on the Scots (0-7). First serve is set for 6 p.m.

Adam Greene

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 736-0849

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics