BREVARD, N.C. - On the heels of an emotional five-set win over Catawba, Brevard defeated Queens 3-0 in conference play Saturday afternoon to win back-to-back SAC matches for the second time this season.
The Tornados put on an offensive clinic in the match, totaling 40 kills and recording a .300 hitting percentage for the afternoon, the fourth time this season the Tornados have hit .300 or better. Hannah Elmore led the way, hitting .348 with 10 kills on 23 attempts. Fatima Gharachorloo, Rachel Ruble, and Whitney DeMoss added nine, seven, and six kills in a balanced effort by the Tornados.
Brevard put together an impressive start to the match, committing just one error in the first set. A service ace by Maggie Weiss gave the Tornados a 4-3 lead they would never relinquish and came as part of a 12-4 run that gave Brevard control of the match and forced Queens to take both of its timeouts before the Royals reached double digits. The Tornados would coast to a 25-18 win in the set.
The second set played out in an opposite fashion. The teams swapped the lead seven times in the set and were deadlocked on nine occasions after an Elmore kill tied the score at 14. Brevard built a 24-22 lead before giving up three straight Cochran kills that allowed Queens to move a point from victory. But much like the fourth and fifth sets of Friday's contest with Catawba, the Tornados would score three straight points to take the win, using a Savannah Cox kill sandwiched between two Royals' errors to win 27-25.
Neither the Tornados nor the Royals were able to gain much separation in the final set, with neither team leading by more than four points. Brevard stretched its advantage to 22-18 after a Royals' error, but Queens scored four of the next five points to pull within a point at 23-22. A DeMoss termination put Brevard on the brink of victory, but Cochran's 10th kill of the match brought Queens to within a point again. Brevard would seal the win moments later on a Queens service error, however, closing out the Tornados' second dramatic win in as many days.
Brevard will attempt to win its third straight conference match, a feat it has never accomplished since joining the SAC in 2008, when the team travels to Newberry on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. match. The Tornados swept the Wolves in Brevard on September 23.
Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photos by Neil.
