SPARTANBURG, S.C.- Hosting the second ranked team in the Conference Carolinas, Converse fought hard but couldn't finish the deal falling 3-2 (25-23, 16-25, 25-21, 16-25, 10-15) on Tuesday evening to Southern Wesleyan (14-5, 9-1).

Converse (3-14, 0-9) posted three players with double-digit kills on the match.  Katie Butler (Savannah, Ga.) posted a team-high 15 kills and 15 digs.  Journee English (Columbia, S.C.) pitched in with a double-double herself with 11 kills and 12 digs.  JaLesa Beaver finished the match with 11 kills.

The Valkyries and the Warriors battled back and forth during the first set with neither team gaining more than a two point advantage throughout most of the set.  Converse would fall behind 20-17 after a Warrior service ace.  But the Valkyries would fight back to tie things up at 23-all before a kill by English and Butler would give Converse the set.

Converse would bounce back in the third set after dropping the second set 25-16.  Converse had to battle back after being down 11-5 early.  The Valkyries rallied to take the lead at 16-15 and never gave it back.  SWU would tie things at 16, 17, and 20 before Converse took the lead 23-20.  JaLesa Beaver posted a kill followed by Cayla Wood's (Asheville, N.C.) service ace would give Converse a 2-1 set advantage.

SWU would take the fourth set to push it to a decisive fifth set taking the fourth stanza 25-16.

The Warriors jumped out to an 8-3 lead before Converse started to rally.  Katie Butler pulled it to within one at 9-8 but SWU extended their lead to 12-8 and finally taking the set and match 15-10.

Converse heads on the road for a Conference Carolinas road-trip against Erskine and Emmanuel on Friday and Saturday respectively.

Milestone Watch:

With Butler's 15 kills tonight, she is 39 kills away from reaching 1,000 in her career.