BRISTOL, Va. – The Union College volleyball team moved closer to the program’s first Appalachian Athletic Conference championship with a 3-0 victory at Virginia Intermont College Thursday.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 30-10 overall and 15-2 in conference play. Union, the top team in the NAIA Region XII rankings, also picked up the 18th victory via a sweep of the year. With the win, the Lady Bulldogs hold a half match lead over Bryan (Tenn.) College and King (Tenn.) College.

Union used scores of 30-27, 30-20 and 30-25 en route to the win over Virginia Intermont (10-25, 6-11 AAC).

Christina Prindle (Florence, Ky.) provided 27 assists, served four aces and added four kills in the victory. Tracie Phillips (Bowling Green, Ky.) was credited with 16 digs.

The trio of Stephanie Pateman (Weyburn, Canada), Deena O’Hare (Perry, Canada) and Brooke Vinovich (Somerset, Ky.) each accounted for eight kills. Marlee Cooper (Bloomington, Ill.) and Autumn Combs (Florence, Ky.) were responsible for seven kills apiece.

Union will have a chance to claim the conference title in front of the home crowd Saturday against Covenant (Ga.) College at 1 p.m. Also on Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs will host No. 21 Campbellsville (Ky.) University for a 5 p.m. match.