WINGATE, N.C. - A day after picking up a sweep over Coker, the Brevard fell to Wingate 3-0 in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Saturday afternoon.
Wingate (20-2, 14-1 SAC) picked up its 13th consecutive win dating back to a four-set win at Brevard (9-12, 6-9 SAC) on Sept. 19 after the Bulldogs suffered a pair of uncharacteristic early-season losses. The Tornados fell to 6-9 in conference play after tying their record for South Atlantic Conference wins in a season with Friday's victory over Coker.
Although the Bulldogs took the victory in three sets, the Tornados fell by scores of 27-25 in the opening frame a 25-23 in the third set. The Tornados were undone by 11 service errors and a .240 Bulldogs' attack percentage with 40 kills on the afternoon. No Tornados' player amassed more than Erin Barr and Fatima Gharachorloo's seven kills. Gharachorloo now has 999 kills in her career and will likely become the first Brevard NCAA-era player to reach 1,000 kills in Tuesday's match with Lenoir-Rhyne.
Brevard battled back from a late first-set deficit to tie the Bulldogs before two consecutive points put the set away. The Tornados trailed 22-17 when head coach Anna Wagner called a timeout. Gharachorloo and Kindle Kirkham responded with consecutive kills to start the comeback.
The Tornados forced a Wingate timeout as they climbed to within two points at 24-22, then capped their 7-2 spurt with a block by Barr and Hannah Elmore followed by a Gharachorloo kill. The teams traded service errors before two straight Wingate points delivered the first-set victory for the hosts.
The Bulldogs went on to a dominant 25-13 performance in the second set to take a 2-0 lead in the match before the Tornados rebounded in the third. The teams battled to five ties and three lead changes in the set, with a four-point Wingate advantage representing the largest lead of the frame.
Brevard found itself down 19-16 during a timeout and attempted to battle back, using a brief 3-1 run to close to within 24-23. But the Tornados were unable to force a fourth set as a service error delivered the sweep to Wingate.
Wingate's Abby Saehler led all players with 13 terminations on the afternoon, hitting .346 with four errors. Brevard's Aleksandra Vrvilo had a match-high 16 digs, with Barr's 21 assists falling one shy of Megan Schildmeyer's match high.
The Tornados return to Boshamer Gymnasium on Tuesday night against Lenoir-Rhyne in an attempt to avenge a sweep at the hands of the Bears last month. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Featured image courtesy of Shawn Millsaps.
