HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Brevard College's volleyball team matched a program-record for most South Atlantic Conference wins in a season on Friday night, as the Tornados swept Coker 3-0. With the win, Brevard improves to 9-11 overall, 6-8 in league play.
Setter Erin Barr became just the second player for Brevard since joining the NCAA ranks in 2008 to eclipse 1600 career assists, finishing the night with 1611.
Defensively, Brevard managed to hold the Cobras to a .073 hitting percentage, keeping them under a .050 in two sets. Fatima Gharachorloo paced the defense with 23 digs, cracking the top 10 in the NCAA era record book for most in a three set match. Aleksandra Vrvilo logged 15 digs with Barr and Kindle Kirkham both providing double digit digs with 13 and 10.
The Tornados never trailed in the opening set, taking the opening three points and never looking back. Leading by as many as seven late in the set at 22-15, Coker (4-15, 1-13 SAC) went on a late rally to knot the score up 23-23. Following a BC timeout, Gharachorloo ignited the royal blue and white with a kill to set up set point and followed up with another strike to end the first set.
Coker earned its' first lead of the night early in the second set with a 4-3 advantaged, and regained it at 5-4 before a 2-1 run by Brevard flipped the lead and brought the momentum back to the Tornados. The set took a similar tune to the prequel; with Brevard taking a big lead into the final stretch of the frame and Coker trying to make a comeback, but the visitors did not let the Cobras get as close prevailing 25-19.
With one set separating Brevard from a victory sweep, the Tornados came out firing in the third set with a 4-0 run out of the gate led by Hannah Elmore's three kills in the spree. Brevard played with a lead for the bulk of the finale, exchanging runs from Coker to knot up the score and runs from Brevard to create separation. Coker took its' first lead of the set at 20-19, and created its' biggest lead of the contest at 21-19 forcing a BC timeout. Trailing 23-21, Savannah Cox sparked the game-winning rally with a kill to make it a one possession set while setting up Gharachorloo for the ace and kill to seal the deal.
Gharachorloo led all players with 15 kills while Elmore provided a pair of service aces in the sweep. Cox and Whitney DeMoss both had two assisted blocks in the victory.
Brevard travels to Wingate on Saturday, Oct. 24 for the final contest with the Bulldogs in the 2015 installment; first serve is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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Featured image courtesy of Shawn Millsaps. Click here to view more images by Shawn.
