Volleyball falls in five at Brevard

BREVARD, N.C. --- Brevard College won three-straight sets after trailing 2-0 to comeback and defeat Tusculum College 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-18, 15-13) in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Saturday afternoon. The NCAA Division II dig leader Melissa Mazur registered a career-high 36 for the Pioneers (6-6, 4-5 SAC).

Laryssa Welch and Danae Stauffer paced the Tusculum offense with 11 kills each, while Sabrina Schleuger tallied 10 with a season-high 21 digs. Hannah Berling and Tori Dierickx split setting duties and each registered a double-double. Berling tallied 23 assists and 13 digs while Dierickx, who made her Pioneer debut, handed out 22 assists with 10 digs. Sarah Bouley also added 15 digs.

With a kill by Schleuger, the Pioneers jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the decisive fifth set. TC held the lead for the next few rallies, but Brevard (5-8, 4-5) tied the game at 7-7 on a Pioneer attack error. With the set tied at 9-9, a Hannah Elmore Kill and a Fatima Gharachorloo service ace gave the Tornados an 11-9 lead and led to a Pioneer timeout.

After the break, Rachel Garnett answered with a kill but Brevard held the lead until a Welch kill knotted the score at 12-12. Dierickx stepped to the service line but committed an error, and two plays later an attack error by Kailey Weiss gave Brevard match point with the score at 14-13. In the ensuing rally, Weiss fired a shot back towards the Tornados but it was sent back by Savannah Cox and Gharchorloo as Brevard earned the improbable five-set victory.

Gharachorloo led all players with 18 kills while Kindle Kirkham had 13 and Rachel Ruble tallied 12. Erin Barr dished out a match-high 49 assists and registered a double-double with 20 digs. A total of five Tornados finished with double-figure digs led by 33 for Aleksandra Vrvilo.

TC led the first set wire-to-wire and its largest lead of the frame came off a Tornado attack error that made the score 12-7. The Pioneers held a 19-15 advantage later in the set, but a 3-0 spurt cut the lead to just one at 19-18. TC's lead was still just one with the score at 23-22 before a massive kill by Schleuger earned Tusculum set point at 24-22. BC fought it off once with a kill from Kirkham, however Schleuger ended the game with her fifth kill of the set as TC took a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set featured nine ties and four lead changes. Neither side led by more than two before the Pioneers reeled off three-straight points to take a 16-13 lead and force a BC timeout. The Tornados answered by scoring five of the next six points to take an 18-17 lead. A Laryssa Welch kill followed a Tusculum timeout that tied the set at 18-18.

After BC jumped out to a 20-18 lead, Tusculum responded with a 5-0 run to take a 23-20 advantage. The Pioneers earned set point off a Schleuger kill with the score 24-21 and Garnett recorded a kill in the next rally to give the Pioneers the second-set victory a 2-0 advantage.

Late in the third set Tusculum was looking for a 3-0 sweep after an attack error by Elmore gave the Pioneers match point with the score at 24-23. Kirkham responded with a kill to knot the game at 24-24 and then recorded another score to give Brevard set point at 25-24.

Vrvilo then stepped to the line and ended the frame with a service ace as the Tornados forced a fourth set. Brevard led the entire fourth game and the match headed the decisive fifth set with its seven-point victory.

Tusculum will be back in action on Tuesday night when it plays host to arch-rival Carson-Newman. First serve at Pioneer Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.