UNCP Drops PBC Opener To Montevallo

MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Coming off of a five-set heartbreaking loss to West Georgia on Friday evening the Braves suffered a 3-0 loss to Montevallo on Saturday afternoon in Peach Belt Conference volleyball action as the Falcons pick up their first PBC victory in school history.

UNCP (5-7, 0-1 PBC) held early leads in the first two set before falling to the Falcons 25-23 in game one and 27-25 in game two to fall to 0-2 in the match. The first set featured 10 tie scores and four lead changes while the second set featured 12 ties scores and eight lead changes. In the end the Braves ran out of gas against Montevallo (9-6, 1-0 PBC), who dominated the third set winning 25-9 against a road-weary Pembroke.

Montevallo’s Katy Handrick led all players with 14 kills in the match with teammate Rebecca Dowd posting 10 of her own. UNCP sophomore Tiara Anderson led the Braves on offense for the second consecutive match posting eight kills while freshman Sam Smith added six to the Pembroke total.

Anna Garrison recorded 30 assists for the Falcons with freshman Sam Wylie posting 23 for the UNCP offense. Junior libero Caitlin Haworth led all players with 16 digs in the match for Pembroke with Montevallo’s Brittany Wilson collecting 15.

Eman Al-Aswadi racked up five blocks (all assists) from the middle hitter position with Lizzie O’Connor picking four (all assists) for the Braves. O’Connor also had UNCP’s only service ace on the day as the Black & Gold committed nine service errors in the three-set match.

UNCP will be on the road once again in its next match when the Braves travel to take on Elizabeth City State for the first time since the 2000 season on Wednesday night. Pembroke holds a 2-0 record lifetime against the Vikings and will look to snap a two-match losing skid against ECSU.