Rocky Mount, N.C. - Senior Meredith Smith tallied 19 kills to help her N.C. Wesleyan volleyball squad secure a 3-1 victory over William Peace University on Tuesday night in Everett Gym. The Bishops rebounded from an opening set loss to pick up their seventh win in their last eight matches. Set scores were 19-25, 28-26, 25-14 and 25-21.

The Pacers (5-9) looked poised to pull an upset after a 25-19 win in the opening set. WPU later went up 24-22 in the second, but NCWC fought off a pair of set points before a Smith kill and service ace by sophomore Lauren Wright gave Wesleyan an eventual 28-26 win.

With the match knotted at 1-1, Wesleyan cruised to a 25-14 win in the third set and proceeded to tally a match-high 17 kills in the fourth to seal the victory.

Smith completed the double-double with 12 digs, while fellow senior Anna Hart finished with 11 kills and 18 digs on the night.  Taylor Johnson added 15 kills and Erin Augspurger eight, helping setter Kristi Lucas to a season-high 49 assists.

Libero Shana Ayers continued her stellar defensive play with 41 digs. The current USA South Defensive Player of the Week, Ayers sits alone atop the conference in total digs and digs per set.

For WPU, Lauren Naugle racked up 15 kills, while Maddie Irvin had 25 digs.

NCWC (8-6) travels to Randolph College on Friday night before taking on Bridgewater and Eastern Mennonite on Saturday in Harrisonburg, Va.