Volleyball Dominates Fayetteville State, Wins Third-Straight Match

PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke volleyball team relied on a strong offense to shutout Fayetteville Sate and collect its third-straight victory on Saturday afternoon at the English E. Jones Center.

The Lady Braves (9-9) outhit the visiting Broncos (8-5) by a 48-27 margin, and tallied five services aces compared to just one from Fayetteville State. UNCP was led by Caroline Pridgen and Morgan Westphal who notched 13 kills and 12 kills, respectively. Danielle Brown recorded a match-best 19 digs, while Shekinah-Joy Toloumu distributed the ball out 35 times.

"We did a really great job of executing our offense today, while also keeping the intensity up. The girls did a great job of controlling the net and executing their kills," said UNCP assistant coach Megan Sanger. "Caroline is doing a great job at the net, we've really been working on her penetrating the net with her blocks and transitioning to control the net. She's done really great job of doing her job at the net."

The Broncos jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the first set, but Marissa Baker was able to tie the set at 10-10 after she led the Lady Braves on a four-point run. UNCP played close with Fayetteville State through the next few points, but pulled ahead, 20-14, on a run led by Westphal. Back-to-back kills from Sarah Bower earned the Black and Gold set number one, 25-19.

UNCP controlled the pace of the second set, never allowing the Broncos to take more than a one-point lead. A kill from Pridgen brought the Lady Braves to set point, and an attack error by the Broncos gave UNCP the 25-16 set two victory.

Toloumu drove the Black and Gold offense in the final frame, giving UNCP its first lead of the set at 4-2, then later bringing the Lady Braves a four-point run for a 16-10 advantage. Bower powered UNCP to set point after four-consecutive points and a kill from Pridgen closed out the set, 25-13, resulting in a Lady Braves win.

"We have to keep the intensity of this weekend and roll into Tuesday. We've got a couple things we need to work on at practice, but we hope to just carry on the intensity and bring home the win," said Sanger.

The Black and Gold return to action on Tuesday to host No. 25 Armstrong Atlantic (13-0, 5-0 PBC) in a Peach Belt Conference contest inside of the English E. Jones Center at 6 p.m.

To watch the full game click HERE.