RELATED: Volleyball Drops A Pair Of Extra Set Contests At Newberry Invitational

NEWBERRY, S.C. – Using a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory over Lees-McRae in the first game of the day, the UNC Pembroke volleyball team picked up its first victory of the season on Saturday at the Newberry Invitational, but split action after falling to Mars Hill in the final contest of the tournament.

The Braves (1-3) had set scores of 24-26, 25-19, 25-19, 24-26, 15-10 with Lees-McRae (0-3) and scores of 18-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-20 with Mars Hill (2-2).

Senior Nicole Mathews led the Braves again on day two with a team-high 29 kills, 17 coming against Lees-McRae, and logged her second double-double with an additional 26 digs, 13 in each game. Junior Alicia Paeplow contributed to the power at the net as she amassed 53 assists, while Bailee Jones added 31. 

In the back row, Josephine Yang was behind 37 digs, Ka'asha Jefferies had 28, Paeplow added 24, Jones picked up 15 and Cayce Bell logged 20. At the net, Brittani Jefferson (17), Cecilia Brandon (16) and Caroline Pridgen (15) had double-digit kills between the two contests, while Jefferson capped off the day with three solo blocks and four block assists. Both Brandon and Mathews each had four block assists as well.

In the first game against Lees-McRae, a tight first set gave Bobcats the advantage in set one, but the Braves climbed ahead in sets two and three after out-hitting Lees-McRae including .333 hitting percentage in the third set. The fourth set swung in favor of the Bobcats in a close contest, but the Black and Gold finished out the game for the first win of the season in the final set. The Braves combined to hit .177 with 55 kills and 10 team blocks.

Despite Mars Hill capturing the first two sets, the Braves commanded the lead from the start of set three to grab the win in the set. The Lions, however, closed out the contest with the win in set four.

Jariliz Cotte tallied 24 kills, while Rachel Cutshaw added 12 and both Allyson Schillinger and Courtney Weathersbee had double digit assists for Lees-McRae. Mars Hill was led by Lauren Hochestetler with 17 kills and 15 digs.

UNCP will compete in the Wingate Tri-Match on Tuesday against Wingate (3-0) at 3:30 p.m. and Erskine (1-2) at 5:30 p.m. inside the Cuddy Arena.