MARYVILLE, Tenn. – The Brevard College volleyball team (0-2) kicked off its 2023 campaign on the road Friday in the first two matches of the Maryville College Labor Day Classic inside the Cooper Athletic Center on Randy Lambert Court in Maryville, Tennessee.
 
The Tornados dropped the first two matches of the new season, falling 3-0 to Hanover College (1-0) prior to a 3-0 defeat to the University of the South (1-0).
 
Brevard returns to play on Sunday as the Tornados travel back to Maryville to take on Huntingdon College at 3 p.m. before facing tournament host Maryville at 5 p.m.
   
Brevard College junior outside hitter Ashley Hoxit led all Tornados with eight kills in the opening match of the tournament, while also registering six digs defensively and Brevard's lone block of the match. Senior outside hitter Makenna Parkins added six kills and 14 digs, while senior Kaitlyn Pressley logged four kills, seven assists, and eight digs. Bailey Lance led the team with 17 digs, and BC totaled four service aces in the contest.
 
Hanover's offense was led by Elliot Mays and Abbey McCoy, who each racked up eight kills in the contest. Megan Vogel dished out a game-high 13 assists, and Maggie Schweitzer added 14 digs on the defensive end of play. As a team, the Panthers held a 37-21 assist advantage and nearly doubled the Tornados in kills (42-23).
 
Brevard was able to keep things tight in the early portion of the first set, trailing 9-6, but the Panthers closed out the stanza on a 16-4 scoring stretch to take the set win, 25-10.
 
With the score 6-4 in the second set of play, Hanover stretched its advantage to an 11-4 margin before Brevard battled back, scoring four out of the next five points to cut the deficit down to four, 12-8 following a Pressley kill. Brevard went on a four-point stretch that trimmed the margin to just two points, 16-14, but Hanover put the second set away with a late rally that gave the Panthers a 2-0 match lead.
 
Despite an early 6-4 advantage for the Tornados in the third set, a 10-point Hanover scoring run sunk any hope of a BC comeback, as the Panthers cruised to a 25-16 set win and a 3-0 match sweep.
   
Hoxit and Jaxson Tumicki paced the Tornado offense in the second match of the day, as the pair each tallied six kills while Hoxit added six digs. Parkins added five kills and eight digs, while Pressley posted a double-double with 12 assists and 10 digs. Tumicki led the charge at the net for Brevard with one solo block and three block assists, as Hoxit and Ashlyn Baumann each totaled two assisted blocks as well.
 
The Tigers' Laurel Burkhardt logged a match-high 12 kills alongside eight digs. Adele Cassidy led Sewanee's defense with a 15-dig effort and Emma Meyer dished a match-best 20 assists.
 
The first set proved smooth for the Tigers, who were able to lead wire-to-wire in the frame for a 12-point set win, 25-13. The Tornados were able to jump out to a 9-5 edge in the second set following a double block from Hoxit and Tumicki. Both sides went back and forth through the middle stages of the stanza, with the Tigers pulling ahead with a four-point lead, 19-15. Brevard was able to battle back, scoring consecutive points late to tie thongs back up, 22-22, forcing a Sewanee timeout. However, the Tigers would not be denied, scoring the final three points of the set to take a 2-0 match advantage.
 
Sewanee was able to hang on to the lead throughout the third set to clinch the 3-0 match win with a dominant 25-10 set three victory.
 
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