BREVARD, N.C. - Oh, how sweet it is!
With a four-set win over visiting Queens on Friday night, Brevard clinched its bid to the 2015 South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Championship, marking the first time since 2009 that the Tornados have advanced to postseason play.
"Making it to the postseason makes all of the hard work we've put in this season worth it," said head coach Anna Wagner. "Marquis and I came in as two new coaches, but these girls have bought in and done everything that we've asked them to do."
The Tornados (12-15, 9-12 SAC) fell behind after a 25-18 Queens (13-14, 11-10 SAC) victory in the first set, but as they have done seemingly all year, fought back for a convincing come-from-behind victory.
Brevard wrested control of the match away from the Royals with a 9-1 run to open the second frame, responding swiftly to Queens's dominant first-set win. Hannah Elmore opened the set with consecutive kills and victimized the Royals' defense with a service ace in the early going. After allowing the Royals to hit .500 with a single error in the first set, Brevard accumulated 16 kills and outhit the visitors by 99 percentage points in the second.
With the momentum firmly in hand following its convincing 25-19 win to even the match, Brevard and Queens played even through the first 30 points of the third set. A Queens service error opened the door for the Tornados to make a decisive run, and Brevard pounced at the opportunity.
Four consecutive points forced a Royals' timeout, but Queens was unable to stem the tide of Brevard's offensive onslaught. The Tornados finished the set on an 11-2 run, their most impressive of the evening, to turn a set that saw match highs with eight ties and four lead changes into a runaway 25-17 victory.
Brevard led by as many as nine points in the fourth set before Queens began to claw its way back into contention, cutting the gap to two points before an attack error delivered the match to Brevard. Although the Royals battled valiantly in their attempt to force a final set, the result seemed an inevitability after an impressive sequence in the fourth frame's early moments.
With Brevard leading 8-5 after scoring seven straight points, an errant Aleksandra Vrvilo dig carried toward the stands. Undeterred, Rachel Ruble sprinted toward the crowd and made a pass back to the center of the court as she careened into the front row, narrowly missing several spectators. Erin Barr played the ball over the net, and Queens's ensuing attack fell harmlessly out of bounds to ignite the near-capacity crowd of 387.
The Tornados would go on to score five of the next six points behind the rowdy onlookers, building a cushion large enough to withstand the Royals' late rally. Queens saw its hitting percentage decline in every set, falling to .000 with 11 errors in the fourth frame. The Tornados outhit the visitors by 19 percentage points in the match despite hitting .125 in the first set while the Royals posted a .500 mark.
"Going into tonight's match, we knew that Queens served aggressively but that one of our biggest strengths is in serve receive," said Wagner. "I knew that us serving tough and keeping them out of system would be the key to winning, and the girls did a great job of executing that plan. We had 10 aces to their five and were great in serve receive. The crowd's energy was awesome and that certainly helped us pick up a few points too."
Senior Fatima Gharachorloo, Brevard's NCAA-era kills leader, led all players with 16 kills. Erin Barr dished out 35 assists and was one of three players with double figures in digs. Queens was led by Jessica Raines and Meredith Jones, who finished the match with 13 and 12 kills, respectively.
Brevard's win eliminated Tusculum from conference tournament contention, while Newberry was eliminated by its loss at Wingate. Brevard and Anderson are currently tied for seventh in the league standings after the Trojans' five-set win at Coker on Friday night. The Tornados host Catawba tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. on Senior Day while Anderson travels to Wingate for a 5:00 p.m. showdown. Should the teams end the season with identical records, the tiebreaker would be determined by the order of finish higher in the standings.
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