DAVIDSON, N.C. – Junior middle hitter Sashalee Wallen notched seven kills and collected three blocks for the North Carolina Central University volleyball team (1-9) Tuesday night, but it wasn’t enough to stop the scrappy Wildcats of Davidson College (6-4) as they swept the Eagles, 3-0, in their home-opener at Belk Arena. 

Wallen hit a .545 with just one error on 11 attempts to pace the Eagle offense, while Kalin Russell added four kills on 10 attempts and two blocks. Jzima-Malaki Kalao finished with 13 assists and Raven King paced the NCCU defense with 10 digs. Assisting on the defensive effort was Alexis John with eight digs and two blocks. 

Davidson hit .268 on the match with just 13 errors, using a 35-kill performance to sweep the Eagles by scores of 25-18, 25-12 and 25-17, improving their record to 6-4 on the season. NCCU totaled 16 kills and 17 errors on 67 attempts in the loss, dropping to 1-9 on the season. The Eagles extend their losing streak to five.

NCCU continued its consistency on the net with five total blocks on the match.  Defensively, they finished just one dig shy of the Wildcats, who recorded 29. Davidson out-numbered the Eagles in blocks with nine and dropped in 13 service aces. They also had five student-athletes hit above .300 on the day

The Wildcats’ Erin Lupfer and Sarabeth Peele each recorded nine kills to pace the Davidson offense. Peele also contributed on defense with four blocks, while a quartet of Wildcats combined for 12 blocks as Hayley Lawson, Madison Benedict, Jorden Benedict and Lupfer each collected three.

Lawson contributed on offense with 26 assists and anchored the Davidson defense with nine digs, followed by Caroline Brown with seven. Brown was also unstoppable from behind the service line as she dropped in five aces.

NCCU returns to action this weekend when they travel to Orangeburg, S.C., to compete in the annual South Carolina State Spikefest Tournament. The Eagles will open the tournament with host South Carolina State on Friday, Sept. 17 at noon, followed by a nightcap with Mercer at 4 p.m.  NCCU will kick-off Saturday play with Hampton at 1 p.m. before concluding the tournament with The Citadel at 3 p.m.

For more information on Eagle Volleyball or for up-to-date scores and statistics, visit the official website of NCCU Athletics at www.NCCUEaglePride.com.