BREVARD, N.C. - Following a rare loss in South Atlantic Conference play Friday night, Wingate found itself trailing Brevard following the first set before rebounding for a four-set victory at Boshamer Gymnasium.
The Bulldogs (8-2, 3-1 SAC) lost a five-set match at Lenoir-Rhyne on Friday, just the team's second road loss in conference play since 2007. Brevard (2-6, 1-3 SAC) had the nine-time defending conference champions on the ropes early, sprinting out to a large first-set lead and holding off a rally to earn the win. But the visitors dominated the second set and stole momentum away with a 25-23 win in the third to sink Brevard's hopes of upsetting the nation's 23rd-ranked team.
With the match tied at one, momentum swung back and forth in a third set featuring five ties and three lead changes. Brevard led by as many as seven points early before the Bulldogs started to rally, taking advantage of a Tornados' service error to begin their slow climb back into contention.
A 12-5 Brevard lead turned into a 19-all deadlock on a kill from Oakley Attaway, marking the first of three ties down the stretch. The Tornados forced a timeout on consecutive kills from Erin Barr and Savannah Cox, but the Bulldogs closed the set on a 6-2 run, punctuating the win with nearly identical kills from Shelly Stumpff to seize the momentum and take the lead in the match.
Stumpff led all players with 19 kills and hit .366 with just four errors. She also contributed 12 digs and two blocks. Bulldogs' counterpart Abby Saehler finished with 16 kills and 10 digs, while Tyler Smith had five blocks on the afternoon. As a team, the Bulldogs hit .240 with 61 kills, including a .516 mark with 18 kills and two errors in a dominant 10-point win in the second set.
Fatima Gharachorloo and Rachel Ruble paced the Tornados with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, with Ruble adding a trio of blocks. Erin Barr had her fourth double-double in the last five matches, notching 35 assists and 11 digs in the contest. Kristen Rathbun had two service aces, vaulting her into the team lead with nine in 2015.
The Tornados started the match in impressive fashion, capping a 5-1 run and forcing a Wingate timeout after two straight Rathbun aces to libero Kimberly Hovey made the score 12-7. The Bulldogs were unable to close the gap to fewer than three points and faced a six-point deficit at 21-15 following one of Hannah Elmore's seven kills. A 6-2 run moments later made the score 24-23, but Ruble cemented the first-set victory for the Tornados with a perfectly-placed kill across the court into open space.
Trailing the match 2-1 in the fourth set, Brevard refused to go away quietly. Wingate built an early lead but saw their advantage trimmed to two points twice as the Tornados fought to remain within striking distance. A 3-0 run made the score 18-13 and forced the Tornados to call their final timeout. Wingate saw its lead cut to three, but never faltered in earning the 25-17 win.
Brevard will look to pick up its second conference victory of the season, and first away from Boshamer Gymnasium in three tries, on Tuesday night when the Tornados travel to face Lenoir-Rhyne.
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Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photos by Neil.
