ELON –– The Elon University volleyball team finished off North Carolina Central on Wednesday night, 25–14, 25–22, 25–18, with a third consecutive sweep. The strategy was clear from the start, starting with clean first contact.
Setters Kayla Palmer and April Rice went middle to hold the Central block, then let the pins work open seams. The Phoenix rose from 9–1 to 13–5 and never looked back as Caroline Berlekamp's quick hit down the middle stamped the first set, 25–14.
Set two held the night's drama. Central edged ahead 21–20, forcing an Elon timeout. Palmer's scan out of the huddle mirrored the plan: keep speed in the middle to freeze hands, then come back to the hot pin.
"We've talked about our game plan coming into this game, and they made a lot of great adjustments," Palmer said. "We had to come back with another adjustment. Just finding our hot hitter and getting them a good opportunity with a one-on-one."
Junior outside hitter Cameron Lanier kept the focus simple.
"Our setters do such a good job at getting the ball to us and putting it in a good spot," Lanier said.
Catherine Rucker knifed a swing to level it at 21–21, Lindsey Harris teamed on a block for 22–21, tooled high hands for 23–22, a front-row error made it 24–22 and Simrin Carlsen finished the last rally as Elon closed 5–1 to take it 25–22.
Out of timeouts all night, Palmer leaned on tempo and placement.
"Tempo and location are super important to us," Palmer said. "April and I have been doing a great job of getting them a one-on-one, and the hitters always are doing a great job putting those balls away."
Lanier credited preparation for her late set shot selection.
"A lot of it leads back to the film that we watch on the team prior," Lanier said. "Our coaches do a really good job at preparing us for what we're going to be playing against."
The third set needed patience after Central jumped ahead 7–3 on a serving run. Elon steadied behind the floor unit, tied it 8–8 on Rucker's serve run and created separation with a 4–0 push. From there it managed sideout ball, and Shannon O'Laughlin's ace punctuated the final stretch for 25–18.
Lanier led with 10 kills, Harris added a season-best eight, and Carlsen anchored the floor with 14 digs plus seven kills. Palmer handed out 21 assists with Rice adding 15, and O'Laughlin supplied the closer. It was Elon's third straight sweep to cap the week.
What carries forward is the passion of that second set, first contact, ball speed and composure.
"We always emphasize playing like ourselves," Lanier said. "Keeping the intention, keeping our energy really high, celebrating each of the points."
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Sydney Spencer at sspencer9@elon.edu.
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