BREVARD, N.C. - Brevard's volleyball team evened its conference record with its second league win of the season Tuesday night, sweeping visiting Newberry in dominant fashion.
Brevard's (8-3, 2-2 SAC) defense continued its ferocious run through the early portion of the 2014 season, holding its eighth opponent to a sub-.100 hitting percentage in the team's first 11 matches. The Wolves (6-6, 0-4 SAC) managed to hit just .043 on the evening, including a -.161 clip in a disastrous second set that saw Newberry commit 11 errors.
Erin Barr paced the Tornados' offense with a match-high 25 assists. She also had 12 digs to finish with her fourth double-double in the last five matches. Rachel Ruble had a match-high nine kills and is just seven terminations away from reaching triple digits on the season. Aleksandra Vrvilo led the team with 13 digs.
The Tornados raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, using an Erin Barr ace and four Newberry attack errors to force an early timeout. Brevard would never trail in the set, but the Wolves closed to within three points in the latter stages. A Jessica King kill sparked an 8-2 run that saw the Wolves trim their deficit from 22-14 to 24-12 before a Ruble kill gave Brevard the win.
Brevard also wasted no time in taking control of the second set. After the teams exchanged the lead once in the early going, the Tornados scored six straight points to force a Newberry timeout with Brevard leading 8-5. The Tornados would never look back, building an advantage of as many as eight points and coasting to a 25-19 victory.
A similar scene played out early in the third set as the Tornados scored seven straight points to turn a two-point deficit into a 9-4 lead. But the Wolves battled back, scoring eight out of nine points in the middle of the set to take a 19-17 lead. With Brevard holding a 21-20 advantage after a Newberry timeout, a Fatima Gharachorloo ace and a Newberry attack error appeared to seal the win for the Tornados. But after the teams traded points, four consecutive Newberry points put the Wolves one score away from victory.
The Tornados, however, responded with three straight points of their own, using two Wolves' errors and an emphatic Rachel Ruble kill to take a 27-25 victory and earn their seventh three-set victory of the year.
Brevard donned special gray jerseys with teal numerals and lettering as part of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month for Tuesday's match. The team will be collecting donations before both matches this weekend to benefit the Meme Brown Fight Like a Girl Scholarship fund, named in honor of a former Lees-McRae player whose life was cut short in 2012 after a four-year battle with ovarian cancer.
The Tornados return to Boshamer Gymnasium for two upcoming conference matches. The Tornados will face Carson-Newman at 7:00 p.m. Friday, while Brevard and the Lady Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial will tangle Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photographs by Neil.
