BREVARD, N.C. - Fatima Gharachorloo became the first NCAA-era Tornado to top 1,000 career kills and a slew of records fell in Brevard's five-set loss to Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday night in Boshamer Gymnasium.
Gharachorloo reached the milestone on her first kill of the evening, but her night was far from over. She racked up a career-high 25 kills in the match, including 10 in the second set alone and nine in the third frame, to place third in the Brevard NCAA-era record books for a single outing. She now has 1,024 kills in her illustrious career with the Tornados, 280 clear of her next closest competitor.
Gharachorloo also set a school record with 100 attack attempts and a personal best with 31 digs. As a team, Brevard's 65 kills and 268 attempts both set new school records.
Libero Aleksandra Vrvilo also reached a significant milestone, setting the school single-match record with 47 digs in the contest. She broke her own high-water mark of 39 digs that she has set on three occasions, including twice this season. Vrvilo was one of five Tornados to finish with at least 20 digs, helping Brevard set a new team record with 154 digs in the match.
Setter Erin Barr had 53 of the Tornados' record 63 assists in the match, setting a career high and tying her for second in Brevard history. She also had 20 digs and four kills, including a fourth-set beauty on a broken play with her back to the net that ignited the crowd and helped Brevard come back to force a decisive fifth frame.
Kindle Kirkham chipped in 10 kills on a career-high 58 attempts and also set a personal best with 21 digs. Savannah Cox tied her season high with 12 kills, chipped in a team-high five blocks, and hit a respectable .265, while Bri Vargas's 24 digs set a career high.
The Tornados (9-13, 6-10 SAC) fell just short of another improbable comeback in a match that saw 40 ties and 15 lead changes. The Bears (14-7, 12-4 SAC) came up short in the second set and fell victim to what has become a customary storyline in the fourth, surrendering the lead late in a thrilling 27-25 Tornados' victory. But the Bears were able to seize the momentum early in the decisive fifth set and went on to a convincing 15-3 win to sweep the season series.
After the Bears pulled away late in the first set for a 25-20 win, it was the Tornados that appeared to be the more dominant side moments later with a 25-22 victory, with the Tornados refusing to relinquish the lead after a Whitney DeMoss kill made the score 16-15. The third set saw 12 ties and four lead changes, but the Bears created distance between themselves and Brevard with four of five points to snatch a 22-19 lead and held on for a three-point victory.
The match's most tense moments came in a fourth set that saw 11 ties and only two lead changes, the last coming on three straight points by Brevard to close out the 27-25 win. The Tornados trailed 22-18 after a 5-1 Bears' run forced Anna Wagner to call her final timeout of the set. Hannah Elmore responded with a kill, but Lenoir-Rhyne upped its lead back to four points moments later.
Four straight kills by the Tornados, including Barr's beauty, knotted the score at 23 before another Gharachorloo attempt fell out of bounds to give Lenoir-Rhyne match point. Gharachorloo responded with another kill before a Brevard error gave the Bears a 25-24 lead.
But consecutive Bears' errors put the Tornados a point shy of extending the match, and Brevard forced a decisive fifth set on a combined block from DeMoss and Elmore before the Bears' triumphed in the final frame.
The Tornados will seek their NCAA-era record seventh South Atlantic Conference victory on Friday when Brevard welcomes Anderson to Boshamer Gymnasium for a 6:00 p.m. match.
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Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photos by Neil.
