AUGUSTA, Ga. – The UNC Pembroke volleyball team picked up its fourth-consecutive victory after defeating GRU Augusta in three sets on Friday night inside of the Christenberry Fieldhouse. Set scores were 25-19, 25-19 and 25-22. 

With tonight's victory the Lady Braves (15-17) take a slight edge in the all-time series with GRU (7-23, 1-15), 22-20, following back-to-back victories over the Jaguars this season. 

UNCP finished with two players in double-digit kills, including Sabrina Gonzalez who matched a game-high 14 kills and Morgan Westphal who chipped in another 11 kills for the Black and Gold. Keeping the hitters active, Shekinah-Joy Toloumu dished out a match-best 34 assists. The Lady Braves excelled defensively, totaling eight blocks. Caroline Pridgen collected five blocks on the night, including three solo blocks. Danielle Brown and Marissa Baker kept the backline strong, turning in 21 digs and 10 digs, respectfully. 

Kristen Koch, who leads the Peach Belt Conference in kills, tallied 14 kills and commit only three errors to finish with a .355 hitting percentage. GRU's defense was led by Maggie Darling who notched 13 digs, while Cat DeSilvester contributed 10 digs to the Jaguar defense.

"We played with a lot of intensity tonight. Everyone stepped up and played well throughout the match," said UNCP head coach Angie Byrd. "We got down in set three, but our defense allowed us to pull out the win."

The Lady Braves were in control for the majority of the first set. Back-to-back service aces from Baker brought UNCP to its largest lead, 24-15, but a four-point run from McKenna Heath made UNCP work for set point. After five set-point attempts, a kill from Morgan Westphal earned the Black and Gold the first game. 

UNCP continued to control the tempo in the second set, once again never trailing the Jaguars after the first point. Westphal came through for the Lady Braves with another kill to finish set point. 

The third frame was a close-played battle. DeSilvester sparked a four-point run to help put GRU ahead, 19-16. Toloumu helped UNCP regain control as she help to surge a comeback, serving four-consecutive points to lead the Lady Braves to match-point.

The Black and Gold look to keep their win-streak alive tomorrow as the squad travels to Milledgeville, Ga., for a PBC matchup with Georgia College (4-22, 1-15) at 2 p.m. in the Centennial Center.