FAYETTEVILLE – The UNCP volleyball squad registered nine more kills than region rival Fayetteville State but were defeated 3-1 on Wednesday evening at the Felton J. Capel Arena. Senior Rebecca Morgan led the team with 17 of the total 49 kills on 142 attempts.
The Lady Braves (4-6) struggled against 15 service aces and 19 block assists by the Broncos (4-6) in four straight set with scores of 25-22, 20-25, 25-22 and 25-22. With the loss, the Broncos snapped a three-game winning streak but the Black and Gold still hold a 41-5 series advantage.
The first match held 12 tie scores and five lead changes as neither team led by more than three points at any one time. Fayetteville State took a quick and strong lead in the second match but allowed the Lady Braves to tie the game at the 18-18 mark by using four kills in a row – one by Allie Schneider and three by Morgan – to take the game-winning lead. UNCP finish the match with a win on the service ace by Megan Gallimore to tie the match at one game apiece.
Game three began with four tied scores but as the match progressed, the Broncos slowly pulled away from the Black and Gold and repeated the events again in game four to pull out the overall victory.
Morgan's 17 kills is a season high for the outside hitter with a .389 hitting percentage while Schneider tallied seven kills of her own to post a season best. Leading the way for UNCP on defense was Morgan who posted 14 digs while Marissa Baker added 12. Transfer Ashlyn Rebok collected a team-high 20 assists while Heather Bolwerk dished out 17. The Lady Braves tallied 47 assists, eight service aces, 55 digs and 12 total blocks during the match.
Octavia Wynn and Nikita Cheadle led the Broncos with 12 and 11 kills, respectively while JaMisha Jordan totaled a team-best 29 assists and five service aces. Decausha McLean tallied 25 digs and four service aces while LaToya Harvin registered seven block assists. Overall, Fayetteville State posted 40 kills on 122 attempts, 36 assists and 59 digs on the night.
UNCP will hit the road again to play in the Lees-McRae Tri-Match on Saturday in Banner Elk, with the matches beginning at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., in William Gymnasium.
