SAVANNAH, Ga. - Fatima Gharachorloo became Brevard's NCAA-era kill leader with an eight-kill effort in the first match of the day, but it was not enough to lift the Tornados to victory as Brevard fell in sweeps to 2014 NCAA Tournament participants No. 25 Armstrong State and USC Aiken at the 2015 Pirate Invitational.
After tying for the team lead with 11 kills in Friday night's five-set thriller with Erskine, Gharachorloo needed eight more kills to surpass Brooke Seaman's NCAA-era record of 744 terminations. She completed the feat in the third set and stands alone as the Tornados' kill leader since the program attained Division II status in 2008. She added seven more kills in the afternoon tussle with USC Aiken to run her career total to 752.
The Tornados fell in the morning contest to the Pirates, who won the Peach Belt Conference title last season and opened the season ranked 25th in the AVCA poll. Brevard jumped out to an early 7-1 lead, but Armstrong State trimmed the lead to as few as two points before taking the lead for good with a 9-4 run midway through the set.
Brevard forced another early timeout by Armstrong State in the second set after gaining the advantage in the early going, and the Pirates once again responded with an impressive run to take the lead, this time scoring five of the next six points.
Brevard did not go quietly, however, using a Savannah Cox termination out of a timeout to spark the comeback attempt. The teams deadlocked five times down the stretch before a kill and a Tornados' attack error made the score 27-25 in favor of the Pirates. Armstrong State again came from behind to earn a third-set victory, this time bouncing back from a three-point deficit with a decisive 18-5 run.
The Tornados were led by Gharachorloo's eight kills, while Cox, Whitney DeMoss, and Rachel Ruble each totaled seven. Armstrong State's Anna McGee led all players with 15 kills, helping the Pirates to a team .299 attack percentage.
2014 Peach Belt runner-up USC Aiken also had an impressive day offensively in the afternoon contest, hitting .266 while limiting the Tornados to an .067 attack percentage with 29 kills. Gharachorloo again led the Tornados with seven kills, narrowly besting Ruble's and Cox's six-kill efforts.
The Tornados fell behind 14-2 in the first set with the Pacers and never recovered. Brevard again found itself well behind early in the second set, trailing 7-2 before beginning to claw its way back into contention. Cox twice brought the Tornados within three points on kills, but the Pacers stretched their lead back to as many as six points late in the set.
A 9-3 run by Brevard that saw a combined block and kills by five different Tornados closed the gap to 24-23 before the Pacers took advantage of a service error to earn the 25-23 win. They maintained control of the third set throughout en route to a 25-12 victory and a sweep in the match.
The Tornados went 0-3 over the weekend against stiff competition, with all three teams advancing to the NCAA Tournament and two winning their conference regular season and tournament titles a season ago. Brevard returns to action with a 6:00 p.m. match on Tuesday against UVa-Wise in the team's home opener.
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