BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard volleyball team was unable to overcome a strong offensive showing by the visiting Lincoln Memorial Lady Railsplitters on Saturday afternoon at Boshamer Gymnasium, falling 3-0 despite a record-setting performance from libero Aleksandra Vrvilo.
The sophomore from Beaverton, Oregon set the Brevard NCAA-era record for digs in a three-set match, leading all players with 27 digs on the afternoon, including 16 in the first set. While Vrvilo led a Tornados' (8-5, 2-4 SAC) defense that recorded 55 total digs in the match, Brevard was unable to keep the Lady Railsplitters' (8-6, 4-2 SAC) offense off balance. LMU hit .237 for the match, keeping alive a season-long trend for the Tornados' defense. All eight opponents that have hit below the .100 mark have fallen to the Tornados, while Brevard's other five opponents have all hit above .200.
Although the Brevard offense struggled, Rachel Ruble had a standout day, totaling 11 kills and hitting .346 for the match. She also had two blocks on the afternoon, a total that included a solo stuff. Erin Barr dished out 30 assists, but as a team the Tornados managed just a .135 hitting percentage and had 19 total errors.
Lincoln Memorial was led by Brooke Fleeman, who finished second on the team with 11 kills in 20 attempts and had four blocks on the afternoon. Kiera Holland had a match-high 12 blocks and also totaled 19 digs.
The story of the match was LMU's ability to close each set after Brevard cut significantly into the Lady Railsplitters' lead or tied the score. The Tornados' were down as many as six points early in the first set before battling back to within two points as one of Vrvilo's two service aces made the score 20-18. But the Lady Railsplitters closed the set on a 5-2 run, including scoring each of the last three points, to take the first-set win. The third set played out in similar fashion, with LMU scoring the set's final three points as part of a decisive 5-1 run.
In the second set Brevard appeared to have momentum on its side as a Savannah Cox solo stuff gave the Tornados a 15-14 lead. But the advantage would be short-lived as the Lady Railsplitters closed the set on an 11-4 run, including six consecutive points, to take a 25-19 victory.
This afternoon's match 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 were collected.
Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photos by Neil.
