BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – The Lady Crusaders were all business against Blue Mountain Christian, as they defeated the Lady Toppers in four sets Friday evening.
 
It was a battle from the first serve, but WCU found themselves in an early 6-2 lead behind four kills, a block, and an attack error. It did not take long for BMCU to settle in and battle their way back to an 11-8 lead.
 
A back-and-forth battle ensued with each team taking turns with the lead and neither leading by more than two points until kills by Natalie Bartholomew (2) and Maurin Reyes with an error giving Carey a 22-18 lead.
 
Just like before, the Lady Toppers fought their way back to within one at 24-23 but an untimely error proved costly, giving the Lady Crusaders the 25-23 first set win.
 
Set two started with Blue Mountain taking an early 11-8 lead. Carey responded with three straight points to tie the set with a BMCU kill breaking the run and putting back in the lead. That would be the last lead of the set for the Lady Toppers, as WCU went on a 5-1 run to take a 16-13 advantage. It was all Carey from there, as they slowly pulled away to a 21-17 lead before going on to take the set 25-21.
 
Nothing changed at the start of the third set with both teams going back and forth. With Blue Mountain leading 7-6. The Lady Crusaders seized control of the set, taking advantage of multiple errors, five kills and a block to take a commanding a 17-10 lead.
 
The Lady Toppers would not go down without a fight and battled their way back to a 22-21 lead. The set would eventually be tied at 24 all with a kill and an attack error giving BMCU the 24-26 win to complete the comeback and avoid the sweep.
 
Set four started just like the third with the Lady Toppers taking the early 9-7 lead and the Lady Crusaders racing out to a commanding 19-11 advantage. Also like the set before, Blue Mountain would not go quietly and battled their way back to within two at 21-19. This time, Carey shut down any hope of a comeback, using an attack error, back-to-back kills by Reyes, and the final point coming from a kill by Zoie Mitchell.
 
Carey is back in action tomorrow, as they head to Pulaski, Tenn. to take on UT-Sothern. Play is set to begin at 1:00 pm.