CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With the season winding down quickly and playoff seeding on the line, the Queens University of Charlotte women's volleyball team controlled their destiny with a convincing 3-0 victory over the Catawba Indians on Wednesday night at Curry Arena. Queens paired a phenomenal defensive effort with an efficient offensive attack and ousted the Indians in a revenge match. The Royals improved to 14-10 overall and 9-6 in South Atlantic Conference play while the Indians fell to 9-12 overall and 6-9 in league play. Queens continued their dominant showing at home this season improving to 8-3 in Curry Arena.

The night began with the Royals taking a quick 4-1 lead. The early advantage would last for most of the first set until the Indians knotted the score 16-16 following a four-point swing. The Royals would regain their rhythm and proceed to go on a 9-4 run to close out the set and secure the early lead. The defensive effort was the highlight of the first set as Queens tallied 18 digs and six block assists. Jordyn Johnson (Jamestown, N.C.) provided the defensive spark in the first set as the freshman notched seven digs and helped set up the attack. In the opener, the Royals hit .262 as a team with 18 kills, including six kills on .625 attacking percentage from freshman Alleigh Johnson (Winterville, N.C.).

The second set opened tightly contested as both squads put together a couple impressive rallies. The largest lead halfway through the set 14-10 in favor of Queens as Catawba maintained their fight. Similar to the first set, the Royals managed to use a late 7-3 push and surge past the Indians and take a commanding 2-0 lead. In the second, the Royals hit .262 with 15 kills while limiting the Indians to a .205 clip and 13 kills despite the better offensive set.

Having lost to the Indians earlier in the season, the Royals were looking to avenge the loss by securing the win in three sets. Following a back-and-forth start to the third, neither team managed to hold a lead larger than two points until the Royals used a 6-2 rally and jumped ahead 17-13. The conference foes would exchange short rallies before Queens secured the set following an attack error by the Indians.  The Royals maintained their consistency for the match by hitting .233 with 15 kills in the third while holding Catawba to a .125 mark with eight attack errors. Overall, Queens hit .252 as a team with 48 kills and 60 digs.

The Royals ­­impressive defensive showing was led by Jordyn Johnson and Jesse George (Virginia Beach, Va.) recording 19 digs and 14 digs, respectively. Queens notched 10 blocks assists on the evening with Kayla McDuffie (Winterville, N.C.) leading the charge with three. Brooke Farley (Fort Mill, S.C.), Jordyn Johnson, and Lindsay Elmore (Salisbury, N.C.) each earned a pair of block assists. On the attack, rookie Alleigh Johnson finished with 13 kills and a .440 attack percentage and Lindsay Elmore added 10 kills and a .429 percentage. Grace Giunta (Palm City, Fla.) also contributed nine kills on the night. The Indians were led by Allison Bryant who tallied 11 kills and seven digs.

With four matches remaining in the season, the Royals currently sit at sixth in the South Atlantic Conference. Out of the remaining four matches, three are against conference opponents, including Limestone, Wingate, and Coker. At the moment, Limestone sits at ninth, Wingate is third, and Coker is No. 12.

The Royals will now hit the road for one last road trip this weekend. Queens is scheduled to battle Limestone on Friday at 7:00 p.m. from the Timken Center before heading to Georgia College for a non-conference showdown at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. At the conclusion of the road trip, the Royals will host Wingate on Thursday, Nov. 11 at 7:00 p.m. for Fan Appreciation Night. Queens will conclude the regular season next Saturday when they celebrate senior day with a match against Coker beginning at 2:00 p.m. Be sure to follow the Royals on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on all game updates and news.