Junior Emily Sears and senior Jessica Imbimbo
combined for 27 kills and a .388 hitting percentage as the Patriots completed a three-set sweep (25-13, 27-25, 25-21) of Georgia College,
Saturday afternoon (Oct. 5). The Georgia College Bobcats are new to the Peach Belt Conference
(PBC), and the Patriots gave them a warm welcome to Florence.
Sears came off the bench to hit .458 while racking up a team-high 14 kills, and Imbimbo
racked up 13 kills and registered a .320 hitting percentage. Senior setter
Kailey Smith dished out an impressive 31 assists and dug up 12 balls as she went on to register her fourth double-double
of the 2013 season. Patriot libero Rebekah Davis registered a team-high 15 digs, while senior middleblocker Megan Mooney
recorded four kills to go along with seven blocks.
Head coach Paul MacDonald is accustomed to performances like this out of his two leaders
and is thrilled to have them apart of his team.
“Davis is all about defense, and Sears takes a lot of the big hits for us,” MacDonald said.
“They both play two of the biggest positions for us, and I’m glad that we have them both on our side.”
Leading off the Georgia College stat sheet were three freshmen: Rachel Reynolds, Blake
Willoughby, and Caroline Long, who each had seven kills.
Freshman setter Micayla Patterson
handed out 29 assists while freshman libero Caroline Ham recorded 16 digs, a match high.
The Patriots scored the opening three points of the first set after a wonderful match-opening
service ace from senior Paige Perreault and never trailed on their way to a 25-13 win in the set.
The Patriots had a battle on their hands in the second set, before a service error by the Bobcats,
and a combined block by Mooney and freshman Carlie Smith gave the Patriots the 27-25 set-two
decision. The Patriots scored the final four points in set three after the set was tied at 21.
The Patriots extend their winning streak to nine matches as they move to 11-1 and remain
undefeated in PBC play at 6-0. They have not lost a match since the non-conference lost to
Newberry earlier in the season.
MacDonald feels as though that Newberry loss has motivated his team.
“After the loss we talked about being more focused,” MacDonald said. “The loss taught us
that we have to be more focused versus better teams. The team understood and has raised the
tempo since.”
Georgia College drops to 3-13 and 1-8 in the PBC. The Patriots will now embark on a
five-game road trip this week, four of which are big conference games, against Columbus State,
Montevallo, Flagler and Armstrong.
MacDonald said his team focuses on every game match by mach and feels confident in its
focus going into this road trip