LAURINBURG – A season-best hitting percentage, highlighted by a dominant .429 clip in the second set, pushed the UNC Pembroke volleyball squad past St. Andrews in three sets Friday evening at Harris Court in Laurinburg.

The Braves (2-17) put a tally in the win column for the first time since Sept. 9 with the 25-23, 25-15, 26-24 triumph over the Knights, while St. Andrews (13-8) falls for just the second time in its last ten matches. UNCP now leads the all-time series 25-23, dating back to the first meeting in 1981.

The opening set featured five lead changes and 13 ties with neither team leading by more than three at any time. Tied at 20-20, UNCP freshman Makaylah Elliott produced kills on back-to-back points to put the Black & Gold ahead for good at 22-20. The hosts pulled within one at 24-23, but the Braves converted their second set point on a kill from senior Alicia Paeplow.

The Braves held a commanding lead for the majority of the second stanza, racking up 15 kills and just three errors on 28 attempts. St. Andrews hit just .071 and after cutting the deficit to 13-5, the Knights never got within six points of UNCP the remainder of the set. The Black & Gold went on a run of at least five points three separate times in the set, the last one stretching the advantage to 22-9.

St. Andrews led for the majority of the final set, but the Braves turned up the heat when it mattered, winning six of the final seven points to overcome a 23-20 deficit and avoid a fourth set. UNCP senior Caroline Pridgen and sophomore Aquia Jones each recorded a kill in the final stretch to push the visitors to victory.

The Black & Gold hit .277 in the match, best their previous season high by .092. The 12 errors from UNCP are the second fewest this year. The Braves held a 40-37 advantage in the kills column and dished out one more assist than St. Andrews, 35-34. The hosts dug the ball 44 times to UNCP's 39, but the Braves racked up eight blocks to the Knights' one.

Pridgen led the way with 13 kills and a .417 hitting percentage, giving her double-digit kills in three-consecutive matches. She added two blocks, one dig and a service ace. Elliott racked up 10 kills at a .375 clip, her fifth double-digit performance of the season and first since Sept. 10. Her four blocks and five digs were both second on the team. Aquia Jones tallied seven kills and two blocks, hitting .375. Paeplow dished out a team-high 20 assists to go with two kills, five digs and a block, while sophomore Bailee Jones added 14 assists and two digs. Junior libero Cayce Bell was tops on the team with 17 digs, adding one kill, one assist and one service ace.

The Braves will look to build on this momentum Tuesday when they travel to Florence, South Carolina to do battle with Peach Belt Conference (PBC) rival Francis Marion. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at the Smith University Center. The Patriots (10-6, 4-3 PBC) are winners of four of their last five and hold a 41-29 all-time series advantage over the Black & Gold dating back to the first meeting in 1978. Earlier this season, Francis Marion won a four-set match in Pembroke.