WINGATE, N.C. - The Brevard College volleyball team fell to nationally-ranked Wingate in its first road conference match of the year, finishing on the short end of a 3-0 decision to the Bulldogs that represented Wingate's 39th consecutive win in conference play.
Wingate (9-1, 2-0 SAC), which carried a No. 12 national ranking into tonight's match, exploded for 40 kills in the match. Kate Bludau, who had a match-high 10 terminations, and Cory McGowan, who totaled six kills, combined to hit .500 with a single attack error paced the Bulldogs on the evening.
For Brevard (6-3, 0-2 SAC), freshman middle hitter Rachel Ruble provided the bulk of the offense, totaling nine kills without committing an error to hit .643 for the match to raise her team-leading attack percentage to .338 through the season's first nine matches.
Setter Erin Barr continued a string of impressive performances with four kills in 10 errorless attempts to go along with her match-high 22 assists and eight digs. Aleksandra Vrvilo led all players with 16 digs, while Savannah Cox helped Brevard to five total team blocks with two solo stuffs and two block assists on the evening.
The Tornados fell behind Wingate early in the first set, trailing by five points in the early going. The Tornados spent much of the set clawing their way back into contention, gradually trimming the deficit until a Bulldogs' attack error led to the set's only tie at 18 apiece. Wingate, however, would close the set on a 7-1 run to take a 25-19 victory.
After Brevard took a brief early lead in the second set, Wingate used its second 7-1 run in as many sets to open up a 15-7 advantage. Wingate held the Tornados to nine kills in the set while producing 15 of their own as Brevard fell behind 2-0.
The Tornados held the lead for much of the early going in a third set that saw five tied scores. But a Wingate service ace by Kori Adams, one of 11 by the Bulldogs in the match, with the score tied 10-10 signaled the only lead change of the set. The Tornados briefly made a run, turning a 22-15 Wingate lead into a three-point deficit and forcing a Bulldogs' timeout, but the Bulldogs would close the match on kills from Shelly Stumpff and Bludau to earn the sweep.
The Tornados will look to rebound quickly as the team travels to Hartsville, South Carolina to face Coker in a conference match tomorrow afternoon. First serve is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photos by Neil.
