RALEIGH, N.C. - The Meredith College volleyball squad took their first lead of the fourth set at 27-26 for match-point, and leading scorer Karlie Long crushed her 23rd kill on the next play for the 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-19, 28-26) home court victory over cross-town rival William Peace University. The win earned the Avenging Angels sole possession of second place in the USA South North division.

Long posted her eighth double-double in a well-rounded effort with 23 kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Jasmine Aguinaldo landed six kills in a dozen attempts for .500 hitting, and Molly Markley connected on eight blocks, eight kills in the win.

The excitement began early when Long ripped one from the hands of Meredith's leading setter Clarke Glendenning, but a pair of mental errors put Peace out in front.

Senior experience from rightside hitter/setter Anna Hayes, evened the scoreboard.

WPU took their second lead on a kill from leading scorer Megan Mansfield, but Katelyn Rall crushed an overpass to tie the game.

The teams exchanged points during the next series when Long landed a kill at 8-9 and partnered with Aguinaldo on the next ball to tie the set at nines.

WPU scored three straight on back-to-back kills and picked up a bonus point from libero Maddie Irvin on the serve.

Hayes took the reins for Meredith on the next play, and served her team on a 6-0 run for a 15-12 lead.

A service error gave Peace back the ball but Long pulled it back on the next play as Meredith hung onto a three-point advantage through 19-16.

WPU's Tempestt Frazier set her team on a 7-0 run, and the Avenging Angels would not recover as the visitors catured a 1-0 set lead.

Meredith regrouped during the break and opened with a 3-0 advantage. MC held onto the lead, and Aguinaldo landed a blow at 7-4 to maintain the threat.

Pacer Lauren Naugle was quick to dispatch another kill, but Meredith's Jessica Goodwin found a hole in the block for another Angel point. Rall dropped one softly over the block on the next play to force a Pacer timeout.

Peace picked up a point after the break, but a pair of miscues handed the ball back to Meredith. Markley crushed an overpass on the next play to rev up the Avenging Angel momentum.

The teams traded points on errors, and Meredith managed to take an eight-point lead at 18-10.

Peace's Naugle and Mansfield squelched the Avenging Angel momentum and carried the Pacers on an 11-2 run past Meredith 22-21.

A Peace service ace gave the Pacers set-point, but Markley landed a kill to tie the game at 24s. Goodwin served a winner and the Avenging Angels finished the set 26-24 on a miscue from WPU.

With an even 1-1 match score, Meredith once again took the early lead in the third.  Rall scored a point at 5-2, and Long followed with a pair of aces to extend the Angel advantage.

The teams battled through the rest of the set but Meredith's .440 hitting proved too damaging to Peace. The Avenging Angels closed the set on a pair of kills from Long and another from Aguinaldo for a 2-1 match lead.

Meredith came out a bit sluggish in the fourth set as the Pacers pushed out to a 6-1 advantage. Back-to-back blows from Long and Aguinaldo ended the run, but the Pacers maintained a five-point advantage through 11-6.

The teams exchanged points during the next series of plays until Meredith finally broke through with three straght points. Long and Hayes each landed a kill, and libero Emery McGee served a winner to help Meredith tie the set at 19s.

Two consecutive points for Peace forced Head Coach Fional Barkley to whistle for a Meredith timeout to settle her squad.

The strategy worked and pulled the Avenging Angels to within one. WPU's Naugle scored a point for Peace, and Rall followed for Meredith on a push into the gap.

The Pacer setter caught Meredith off-guard with a dump into center court for a set-point opportunity, but Long landed a kill to bring the serve back for Glendenning.

The senior setter handled the pressure and Markley blocked Frazier's attempt in the middle to terminate the rally.

Three more points left Peace with another set-point attempt, but Markley and Long finished the set on a trio of blocks each set up by Glendenning.

Hayes finished wth 19 assists, six kills. Keegan Lynch and McGee tallied 10 digs apiece, and McGee added four aces.

Mansfield led WPU with 16 kills, 11 digs, and Liana Solomon dished out a game-high 45 assists and 15 digs.

The Avenging Angels take the weekend off before heading to Ferrum October 9. Meredith returns to Weatherspoon October 16 in a Dig Pink event.