BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – The William Carey Volleyball Team took down the reigning SSAC Champions, snapping a forty-two game SSAC win streak in the process, with a thrilling five-set victory over Blue Mountain Christian Saturday afternoon at Tyler Gymnasium.
 
The Lady Crusaders opened the first set quickly building a 5-1 lead and then a 9-4 lead but each time the Toppers answered, erasing the deficit, eventually tying the set at eleven all. From there Carey continued to take the lead only to see Blue Mountain tie the set six more times.
 
With the score tied at twenty-two, Blue Mountain took their first lead of the set since winning the opening the point on an offensive miscue by the Lady Crusaders. However, Carey answered with back-to-back kills by Elaina Anderson and Marcella Hermont to retake the lead 24-23. But in the end the Toppers offensive came away with the first set win behind three straight kills.
 
The second set started just like the first set with Carey getting off to a quick start and Blue Mountain Christian settling back in to erase the deficit. The main difference came with the score tied at nine. The Lady Crusader offense exploded for fifteen straight points with six points coming from kills and four coming from aces.
 
The third set saw the Toppers get off to the quick start building a 12-6 advantage. William Carey continued to try and find their footing eventually battling their way back to get within one point at 18-17. However, Blue Mountain Christian halted the rally, closing the set on a 7-3 run to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The Lady Crusaders went unfazed entering the fourth set, as they opened the set on a 10-3 run and never looked back cruising to a 25-14 victory to force the deciding fifth set. In the set, the Carey offense attacked at a .244 percentage with fourteen kills and one ace while picking up four blocks.
 
The fifth set started with the Toppers opening on a 4-1 run, but Carey settled back in erasing the deficit. From there both teams took turns leading with the score being tied on numerous occasions. With Blue Mountain Christian leading 13-12 the Lady Crusaders picked up two huge blocks from Sofia Bettini, Elaina Anderson, and Barbara Guedes to retake the lead with Hermont sealing the victory with a kill.
 
Marcella Hermont led the way with nineteen kills and eighteen digs. Sofia Bettini and Barbara Guedes each added thirteen kills while Elaina Anderson and Suelen Lima had eleven and ten kills. Evelyn Araujo finished with twenty-four digs while Katarina Vulic had fifteen digs and forty-four assists with Kayla Benedic and Gabriela Maceira each finishing with fourteen digs.
 
The Lady Crusaders return to action September 14, as they host Dillard University in non-conference action. Play is set to get underway at 11:00 am at the Ben Waddle Complex.