CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Queens University of Charlotte women's volleyball team finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 3-1 loss against Gardner-Webb on Tuesday night. With the loss, the Royals fell to 3-9 on the season while the Runnin' Bulldogs improved to 6-6 with their third consecutive win.
 
In a highly competitive first set, the Runnin' Bulldogs defeated the Royals 25-23. Alleigh Johnson and Anna Grace Sparks dominated offensively for the Royals as each had five kills with only one error between the two. The back-and-forth set saw five ties, including a 23 apiece tie, but no lead changes before Gardner-Webb scored two straight points to finish off the set.
 
"[Anna Grace Sparks] has shown the level of confidence that she had as a high school player," Head Coach Hannah Long said of the freshman standout. "We are starting to see that more and more each match."
 
The Royals came alive in the second set with a dominating 25-17 victory behind strong play from Jesse George and Kayla McDuffie. The Royals capitalized on errors from the Runnin' Bulldogs — Gardner-Webb had six attack errors and a ball handling error in the set while the Royals only had two attack errors.
 
The third set began as the most competitive of the match as Gardner-Webb took a 15-14 lead into the media timeout. Up to that point, there were nine ties and three lead changes in the set before the Runnin' Bulldogs went on several scoring runs ending in a 25-21 victory. In the set, Jordyn Johnson led the Royals with four kills on eleven total attacks.
 
Once again, the fourth set was tightly contested with eight ties and six lead changes before a Gardner-Webb 25-20 victory. The Runnin' Bulldogs used 15 kills and two aces and went on a scoring run late which led them to the set and match victory.
 
Overall, four Royals had double-digit kills — J. Johnson led the way with 12, McDuffie and Sparks each snagged 11 kills of their own, and A. Johnson grabbed 10. George earned 25 digs while Tilley Collins added another 11 off the bench. Kendall Buish led the Royals with 35 assists. A. Johnson and McDuffie combined for 10 blocks (five each), marking a career high for A. Johnson and a season-high for McDuffie.
 
For Gardner-Webb, Jenna Otts led the side with 15 kills while Autumn Flowers stuffed three blocks. Queens outhit the Runnin' Bulldogs .151 to .129, but Gardner-Webb mustered up a total 57 kills compared to the Royals' 47.
 
"We have to stay aggressive in out-of-system situations," Long added. "I thought we tipped and rolled some easy balls that gave them [Gardner-Webb] fast transition opportunities. At times, our block was sloppy, but other times it was strong — we just need to control our hands at the net a little more."

UP NEXT
The Royals begin conference play on Saturday, September 23rd as they travel to Louisville to take on Bellarmine at 4:00 PM. The Royals and Knights battled twice last season with each team recording a win on their home court. Queens won 3-1 in Charlotte last November and Bellarmine won 3-0 in Louisville last October.
 
 
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