PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke volleyball squad played host to Barton and Belmont Abbey Tuesday night at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court, falling to both the Bulldogs and Crusaders in straight sets.

The Braves (2-21) see their current losing streak upped to four, while Conference Carolinas members Barton (14-7) and Belmont Abbey (13-9) have winning streaks of nine and four, respectively, after the victories in Pembroke.

Consistency was the key for the Bulldogs in the night's opening match, as Barton hit over .300 in all three sets, while the Black & Gold's best clip was a .171 mark in the final stanza. The Braves hit .103 overall in the 17-25, 10-25, 19-25 defeat, while the visitors compiled a .337 hitting percentage. Barton held a slim 52-50 lead in digs, but racked up 40 kills to UNCP's 29. In set three, the score was tied at 16-16 and UNCP looked to carry all the momentum, but the Bulldogs rallied for six of the next seven points to put a stranglehold on the lead.

Senior Caroline Pridgen paced the hosts with eight kills and a .312 attack percentage, followed closely by sophomore Aquia Jones with seven. Senior Alicia Paeplow came one dig shy of a double-double, registering 15 assists and nine digs and added four kills. Junior Cayce Bell dug the ball a team-high 14 times and senior Josephine Yang added 13 digs to the effort.

In the nightcap, nine blocks from the Braves were not enough to pull out a victory, falling 20-25, 19-25, 22-25 to Belmont Abbey. Two Bulldogs notched at least 10 kills and the guests held the advantage in kills (46-28), digs (45-31) and hitting percentage (.239-.115).

The Black & Gold kept all three sets close to the very end, even holding a 21-20 lead in set three before the Crusaders won five of the next six points to close out the match.

Pridgen once again racked up eight kills, while recording one solo block and two block assists. Her 66 total blocks are tied for third in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC). Jones and freshman Makaylah Elliott each added five kills and Elliott was a blocking machine, racking up two solo blocks and four block assists. Paeplow led all Braves with 17 assists, while sophomore Bailee Jones dished out 10. Cayce Bell's 11 digs bumps her digs per set to 4.13, good for ninth in the conference.

The Braves hit the road for a two-match road trip beginning Friday with a 7 p.m. tilt at Columbus State. UNCP will head to Montevallo Saturday to do battle with the Falcons at 2 p.m. The Cougars and Falcons each won a three-set affair in their earlier meeting with the Black & Gold this season.