BREVARD, N.C. – After falling behind two sets to zero, the Brevard College volleyball team (1-9) fought back with a two-point victory in the third set, but a late Johnson University-Tennessee (8-3) rally in the fourth set sent the Royals home with a 3-1 victory on Friday evening at the Boshamer Gymnasium in the first NCAA-era meeting between the two schools in the sport of volleyball.
 
Caroline Moon led all Tornados with 15 kills and added a team-best 19 digs for her fifth double-double of the 2025 campaign. The Woodstock, Georgia sophomore has racked up 108 kills on the season. Abigail Kelly and Jaxson Tumicki added nine kills apiece, with Emma Fontana putting up seven and the duo of Izzy Boulay and Malahna Hoyle contributing five each.
 
Boulay dished out 39 assists, while Lili White (18 digs), Boulay (10 digs), and Kirklyn Hudler (10 digs) all joined Moon with double-digit digs. Fresh off her first collegiate triple-double, Boulay's 10 digs on the night clinched her second double-double of the year.
 
Abby Brown paced the Royals with 17 kills, while Kiersten Bell contributed 11. Marissa McMahon had a game-high 23 digs, and three different Royals – Caelyn Marshall (24 assists), Hannah Lukey (11 assists), and Lily Richards (10 assists) had double-digit marks in dimes.
 
Leading by as many as nine points in the first set, Johnson took control early and didn't turn back. Down by seven, Brevard cut the deficit to three with a four-point run capped by a Fontana kill, and made it a two-point set at 23-21. The Royals scored two out of the last three, however, to clinch the first set 25-22.
 
The Royals and Tornados battled through the early stages of the second set, with JUT leading by just one point at 11-10. Johnson went on to outpace Brevard 14-8 down the stretch to secure the second-set victory by a final of 25-18.
 
A back-and-forth third set ensued, with the Royals gaining a bit of separation with a four-point run that put the visitors up by three, 18-15. Brevard answered right back, however, with a three-point run of its own, as a Moon kill tied the set at 18 apiece. With the score knotted at 20, each side traded runs of three, bringing the set down to the wire tied at 23. Boulay executed a perfect set-kill, and Moon's service ace put Brevard on the board with the 25-23 set-three triumph.
 
Johnson opened up a 16-11 edge in the fourth set, but the Tornados erased it thanks to a 6-0 scoring run. Brevard held a late 21-19 lead in the fourth frame, but the Royals clinched the match by scoring six out of the final seven points of the evening to take the 3-1 match victory.
 
Brevard returns to action next Wednesday, September 17 at 7 p.m. in Swannanoa, North Carolina as the Tornados take on Warren Wilson.
 
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