Hickory, NC – It was a very exciting trip for the Lake-Sumter State College volleyball program, who returned home Saturday night. The team finished 2-2 in North Carolina and are getting ready for a return to conference play this week.

Northern Virginia Community College was LSSC's first opponent on Friday. The Lakehawks showed no signs of exhaustion from a long trip and jumped out on the court ready to go. Emma Gray led the way with her ninth double-double of the season. The outside hitter totaled 15 points and 10 digs in the team's three set victory. Gabriela Hernandez accounted for 41 of the teams 43 assists.

Match two on the day put Lake-Sumter up against Bob Jones University. After winning the first two sets, LSSC dropped set three, forcing a fourth set. Not wanting to move to a decisive fifth set, the Lakehawks won the match in four, 25-19. Amanda Berecz was a force to be reckoned with on defense with 45 digs in the match. Berecz had the most digs in a single match since 2011. Hernandez also put up 50+ assists for the third time in 2018.

Saturday marked day number four on the trip and the fatigue may have crept into the team's play as they went 0-2 on the court. Lansing Community College took down the Lakehawks in four sets (25-16, 25-18, 25-17, 25-23). The next match was against Spartanburg Methodist. It was a hard fought battle with LSSC coming up a little short in the fifth set, 17-15.

On the season, the Lakehawks are now 10-10. This marks the team's best record since 2014 and just the third time since 2004 a volleyball team has won 10 or more games in a season. Lake-Sumter is still sitting pretty in the Sun-Lakes Conference with a 5-1 record. LSSC is currently second in the conference and will take on South Florida State at home Wednesday at 6 pm. In their first meeting earlier this season, the Lakehawks knocked off the Panthers in five sets.

You can revisit the trip in its entirety by reading Chloe Campbell's journal entries from North Carolina. They are currently all on the website.