BREVARD, N.C. - Coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Cougar Invitational, the Brevard College volleyball team was unable to continue its hot streak, falling in three sets to Anderson in the first match this season at Boshamer Gymnasium.
The Tornados (6-2, 0-1 SAC) were unable to stop the potent Trojans' attack, surrendering 45 kills and allowing Anderson to hit .259 for the match. Hailey Pittman led Anderson (7-1, 1-0 SAC) with 15 terminations and hit .481 on the evening.
The turning point of the match came in a second set that featured 13 ties and nine lead changes after Anderson coasted to a 25-18 victory in the first set. Whitney DeMoss was credited with a kill on a block error by Pittman, giving the Tornados their second straight point to stretch the lead to 22-20. Pittman responded with a kill before Serena Jackson and Kendall Vallancourt combined on a block to even the score. An attack error and a service ace made the lead 24-22, and the Trojans improbably took the set moments later on a kill from Shannon Gillespie.
The Tornados held the lead for much of the third set before Anderson regained a 14-13 lead on a ball handling error charged to the Tornados. The teams traded the lead seven times down the stretch before the Trojans used two kills from Pittman to regain the advantage for the final time at 24-23. A Tornados' attack error sealed the sweep for Anderson, which has seven wins in its eight matches this year, its only loss coming at the hands of USC Aiken.
Erin Barr followed up Saturday's spectacular performance in Brevard's win over Georgia College with her second double-double in as many matches, with 34 assists and 14 digs. Both totals were match highs. DeMoss continued her stellar freshman campaign by combining with Hannah Elmore for the team lead in kills with eight. Savannah Cox and Fatima Gharachorloo showed the way for Brevard with three blocks each.
The Tornados return to action on Friday night in the first SAC road contest of the year against preseason conference favorite Wingate. Brevard then travels to Coker for a Saturday matinee affair. Live stats will be available for both matches and will be linked to the volleyball schedule page at www.bctornados.com.
