BREVARD, N.C. - Brevard gave conference leader Carson-Newman all it could handle on Friday night before a rowdy crowd at Boshamer Gymnasium, but the Eagles prevailed in a four-set thriller to maintain their hold upon the top spot in the South Atlantic Conference standings.
The Eagles (9-3, 5-0 SAC) used a pair of identical 4-0 runs to close out 25-21 wins in the first two sets before Brevard (8-4, 2-3 SAC) rallied for a 28-26 third-set victory that saw eight ties and six lead changes down the stretch. Carson-Newman was able to avoid a decisive final set, however, with a 25-19 fourth-set win.
Sara Fairley and Rachel Harper combined for 37 kills in the match for Carson-Newman. Wilson hit .529 with 20 kills, while Harper tallied her 1,000th career kill among her 17 on the evening.
Brevard had several impressive totals of its own. Savannah Cox's 12 kills highlighted a group of three Tornados who reached double figures in terminations; Rachel Ruble and Fatima Gharachorloo pitched in 11 and 10, respectively. Gharachorloo tallied a double-double with 10 digs in the match, while Erin Barr had 18 digs and 33 assists. Libero Aleksandra Vrvilo had a match-high 36 digs, the third-highest single-match total in Brevard history.
While Brevard had 85 digs and 7.0 total blocks on the evening, Carson-Newman's .204 attack percentage was its key to victory. Brevard has won every match this season in which it has held its opponents to a sub-.100 attack percentage, while all four teams to defeat the Tornados have hit above the .200 mark.
Brevard appeared poised for a comeback after a dramatic 28-26 third-set victory. Neither team led by more than two points after the Tornados cut into Carson-Newman's 5-2 lead early in the set. The teams swapped the lead nine times and combined for 16 ties. With Brevard leading 21-19, four straight Carson-Newman points flipped the advantage to a two-point Eagles' lead.
Instead of allowing the Eagles to take control on a 4-0 run for a third straight set, however, Brevard answered with two straight points and eventually took a 25-24 lead on a Carson-Newman ball handling error. The Eagles battled back to within a point of victory, but a Rachel Ruble block and a Gharachorloo kill sandwiched around a Carson-Newman attack error sent the crowd into a frenzy with the Tornados' 28-26 win.
Carson-Newman took control of the fourth and final set early. Brevard slowly made its way back into contention, clawing to within a point after trailing by as many as six through the middle of the set. But the Eagles returned to their ways from the first two sets, using a 6-1 run punctuated by Wilson's 20th kill of the night to take the 3-1 victory.
Tonight's match, as well as Saturday's upcoming tilt with Lincoln Memorial, was played in honor of Meme Brown, a close personal friend and high school teammate of assistant coach Jordan Raye who passed away from ovarian cancer nearly two years ago. The Tornados wore special gray jerseys with teal numerals and letters in honor of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and draped a No. 32 jersey, signifying Brown's jersey number, over a vacant chair on the Brevard bench. Donations for the Meme Brown Fight Like a Girl Scholarship Fund, which doubles as a college scholarship for a Starmount High School volleyball athlete and a fund for ovarian cancer research, will be collected at Saturday's match.
Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photos by Neil.
