Rocky Mount, N.C. - Junior Taylor Johnson tallied a team-high 17 kills and five blocks to help lead her North Carolina Wesleyan volleyball team to its first win of the season on Tuesday night, a 3-1 victory over visiting Virginia Wesleyan. Set scores were 27-25, 18-25, 25-13 and 29-27.

After splitting the first two sets, NCWC raced out to an 8-0 lead in the third behind the serving of senior Kristi Lucas. The Marlins would get no closer than six points the rest of the way as the Bishops turned in a team-high .367 hitting percentage in the set.

In the fourth, VWC looked to force a fifth and deciding set by rallying for set point at 24-23. After a Bishop timeout, kills by Johnson and senior Meredith Smith sandwiched a Marlin point for a 25-25 tie. The Bishops fought off a second set point at 27-26 with a kill by senior Erin Augspurger, while sophomore Lauren Wright put down her next attempt to give NCWC match point. Wright proceeded to team with senior Anna Hart for a match-clinching block that gave the Bishops a 29-27 win.

Smith joined Johnson in double-figures with 10 kills and 20 digs, while libero Shana Ayers had 21 digs. As a team, NCWC dominated in blocking with 13 total blocks on the night, led by Hart's team-high six stops. Lucas finished with a season-high 41 assists.

For VWC, Kala Guy carried the load with 27 kills and 19 digs on the evening.

The Bishops had previously opened their 2012 slate with a pair of tough home losses on Saturday. NCWC fell to a talented Randolph-Macon squad 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-21) before dropping a second match to St. Mary's 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-15). Smith had 13 kills versus R-MC, while Johnson had 11 against the Seahawks.

Now 1-2 on the season, the Bishops will travel to Washington & Lee University this weekend for a series of four matches that kicks off on Friday with a 2:30pm match-up with Johns Hopkins.