BREVARD, N.C. - A valiant attempt to blaze a comeback trail was denied by Carson-Newman in the second set, paving the way for a three-set victory for the Eagles in a Saturday South Atlantic Conference matchup.
Carson-Newman (17-3, 11-1 SAC) entered the day trailing only Wingate in the SAC standings with a single loss in league play. The Eagles had the fourth-best offensive day of any Tornados' (8-11, 5-8 SAC) opponent this season, hitting just shy of .300 with 49 kills on the afternoon.
Carson-Newman's offense was paced by Sara Fairley, who hit .314 with a match-high 16 kills and chipped in six digs. She was joined in double figures by Natalie Harris and Molly Locke, who each contributed 10 kills to the winning effort. Allie Foster compiled a match-high four blocks as well.
Fatima Gharachorloo paced the Tornados with 10 kills and now has 977 in her career. She is looking to become the first NCAA-era Tornado player to reach 1,000 career kills after taking the program lead in the second match of the season.
Carson-Newman built a five-point lead midway through the first set and coasted to a 25-21 victory, but nearly fell to a plucky Tornados squad in the second set. Brevard fell behind by seven points in the early going after a 7-0 Eagles run that put the visitors up 12-5. Brevard trailed 18-9 before two straight Eagles' errors opened the door for a comeback attempt.
Brevard closed the gap to as few as two points on two occasions before ultimately falling 25-21. The Tornados embarked on a 7-1 initial run highlighted by two Gharachorloo kills and a Kindle Kirkham ace. Carson-Newman stretched its lead back to five points, but kills by Gharachorloo, Ruble, and Elmore and an Eagles' error made the score 22-20. Carson-Newman closed the set by scoring three of the last four points, however, denying Brevard the chance to even the score and steal momentum entering the third set.
Carson-Newman wasted no time in building a large advantage in the third set, hitting .333 with 16 kills in the final frame in finishing off the sweep by a 25-15 count.
Ruble finished her afternoon with eight kills and a pair of blocks to lead the team. Gharachorloo had 11 digs, with newly-minted career digs leader Aleksandra Vrvilo close on her heels with 10 digs.
The Tornados return to action with a Friday date at Coker. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
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Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photos by Neil.
