DEMOREST, Ga. - The Brevard College volleyball team (3-7) battled back, but ultimately fell in a five-set battle to Piedmont (7-3), 3-2 (16-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23, ) on Wednesday evening inside Cave Arena.
Brevard opened the first set by scoring 10 of the first 15 points and surged to an eight-point lead midway through the stanza. A Rowan Ramey kill and a Piedmont attack error put the set away, as the Tornados opened the match with a dominant nine-point win, 25-16.
BC took the early lead, 7-3, in the second set, but Piedmont responded, taking a four-point lead of its own, 19-15. BC trimmed the deficit to two points, 19-17, but it was as close as the Tornados could get as the Lions earned a four-point victory, 25-21.
The third set looked all Lions after Piedmont opened up a 9-2 lead and led by as many as nine points, 18-9. However, the Tornados stormed back, scoring nine of the next 12 points to pull within three, 21-18.
With the hosts clinging to a four-point edge, 22-18, Brevard went on a 7-1 scoring run to close the third set out in its favor, as a Piedmont service error gave Brevard the 25-23 triumph.
Piedmont again got out to the hot start, with opening up a 14-7 lead. Brevard was able to tie the set score three different times, and pulled back to within one point late, 23-22, but the Lions prevailed, as Riley Blanton sent the match to a winner-take-all fifth set with a set-winning kill.
The hosts jumped to the early edge, 7-3 in the final stanza and kept the Tornados at distance for most of the match-clinching set. Trailing by six with the Lions on match point, Brevard strung together four-consecutive points to pull within two, 14-12. However, Piedmont wrapped the victory off as Alexandrea Dorman drove a match-winning kill off an assist by Hannah Tuttle.
Junior outside hitter Caroline Moon notched her third double-double of the season, leading all Tornados with 14 kills to go alongside 12 digs. Emma Fontana continued the strong start to her junior campaign with 10 kills and five total blocks. Bailey Blackmon (six kills, four blocks) and Randy (six kills, 12 digs) also filled the stat sheet up, while Madison Warren led all Tornados with 22 assists and Izzy Boulay notched a double-double with 12 digs and 11 assists.
Piedmont was led by Lillian Gaskins, who totaled a match-high 15 kills. Dorman secured a double-double with 16 digs and 12 kills, while Tuttle (19 assists) and Erin Lemons (16 assists) facilitated the Lion offense.
Brevard opens USA South Conference play on Saturday, September 19 with a tri-match beginning at 10 a.m. as NC Wesleyan and Southern Virginia visit the Boshamer Gymnasium.
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