RELATED: Seton Hill & Eckerd Too Much For Volleyball
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Using a .236 hitting percentage, the UNC Pembroke volleyball team clinched the opening victory of the day over West Liberty, 3-0, at the Eckerd Classic Tournament on Saturday, but suffered a straight-set loss to Colorado Christian, 3-0, to conclude competition in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Braves (2-7) had set scores of 25-19, 25-23, 25-15 with West Liberty (3-4) and scores of 19-25, 22-25, 18-28 with Colorado Christian (4-4).
Cecilia Brandon and Jada Vernon each posted 10 kills to assist the Braves in out-hitting West Liberty in both hitting percentage and in kills (41). Setters Alicia Paeplow and Bailee Jones logged double-digit assists as Paeplow tallied a team-best four service aces. Senior Nicole Mathews, sophomore Ka'asha Jefferies and junior Josephine Yang picked up double-digit digs in the contest. The Black and Gold registered a .313 hitting percentage in the first set and despite being out-hit in the second set, the Braves hit .295 to hold off West Liberty, 3-0, and snap a five-game skid.
Colorado Christian used a.327 hitting percentage and 48 kills to move past UNCP in the second game of the day as the team hit nearly .300 in the first set and more than that in the final two sets. The Braves claimed 15 kills in set two which proved to be the strongest for the squad as the team hit .317 in that set alone. Junior Caroline Pridgen led the way with 10 kills as Mathews notched nine. Jefferies concluded the contest with 15 digs and Paeplow had a team-best 16 assists.
UNCP will open up its home portion of the 2015 schedule with a Peach Belt Conference battle against USC Aiken (5-0, 0-0 PBC) on Friday inside the English E. Jones Center with the contest starting at 6 p.m.
