SALISBURY, N.C. - Brevard's program-record four-match winning streak in South Atlantic Conference play came to an end Saturday afternoon in a sweep at the hands of Catawba.
A dominant hitting performance by the Catawba Indians (9-9, 6-5 SAC) sparked the team's victory. Catawba hit .374 with just 12 errors on the afternoon, giving the Indians the best offensive performance by a Brevard opponent since a match with Anderson last October. Bri Howard and Alex Hopper led Catawba with 10 kills apiece, while Erin Morant hit .643 with nine kills and no errors in 14 attempts.
The Tornados were led by Fatima Gharachorloo's nine kills and 28 assists from Erin Barr. Rachel Ruble was solid defensively, compiling half of the team's 4.0 total blocks.
Catawba overcame a four-point deficit and using both of its timeouts very early in the first set to take a 25-19 victory. The Tornados led 15-12 following an Indians' service error, but Catawba reeled off six straight points to take the lead for good and held the Tornados at bay for the first-set win.
With the first set in hand, Catawba was virtually unstoppable on its way to taking a 2-0 lead in the match. The Indians broke an eight-all tie with a McKenzie Garrison kill, then slammed the door on a comeback attempt by scoring four of five points to make the score 17-13. Brevard was unable to recover, falling 25-15 in the second set.
Although Brevard's four-match winning streak was characterized by improbable comebacks, the Tornados could not follow the same script on Saturday. The Indians used a 10-3 run to take control of the third set, taking advantage of six Brevard errors in the stretch and building a 17-10 lead from what had been a tie at seven. Brevard trimmed the gap to seven points three times down the stretch, but the Indians took the set by a 25-17 count to sweep the match.
Brevard returns to the court with a pair of midweek matches in Banner Elk. The Tornados face off with UVa-Wise in a rematch of a 3-0 Brevard victory on Sept. 8 in a 5:00 p.m. Tuesday match, then face Lees-McRae at 7:00 p.m.
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Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photos by Neil.
