PEMBROKE – Sophomore middle blocker Makaylah Elliott unleashed double-digit kills for the fifth time this season and hit at least .450 for the third time to fuel the UNC Pembroke volleyball squad to its second home victory in the last three opportunities with a four-set defeat of Claflin Thursday night at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.

MATCH INFORMATION
Score: UNC Pembroke 3, Claflin 1 (26-24, 25-18, 17-25, 25-19)
Records: UNC Pembroke (4-14); Claflin (4-10)
Location: Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court
Series: UNC Pembroke leads 6-0

HOW IT HAPPENED
Box Score/Play-by-Play

FIRST SET
-A Madelyn Ashwell kill capped off a 4-0 Braves' run to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
-Down 6-5, UNCP rattled off six-straight points to grab an 11-6 lead. The run consisted of two more Ashwell kills and Elliott's first kill of the night.
-The visiting Panthers clawed their way back into the match with an 8-0 run after trailing by six at 18-12.
-Four-consecutive Black & Gold points handed the hosts three-straight set points, but Claflin was up to the task and erased all three to knot the set at 24-24.
-A ball-handling error and an attack error on the Panther half of the court pushed the Braves to a 26-24 set victory.

SECOND SET
-The sides split the first 18 points of the second set before the Braves went on a 6-0 run and took control at 15-9.
-The Panthers did not get within four points of UNCP for the remainder of the set and an Amber Tyndall kill put the stamp on a 25-18 set win.

THIRD SET
-Claflin flipped the script in a must-win third set and did not relinquish the lead after winning the first point of the stanza.
-The Braves were within three at 15-12, but the Panthers used 4-1 and 3-0 runs to take hold of a commanding 22-14 lead en route to a 25-17 triumph.

FOURTH SET
-Looking to regain the momentum, UNCP went up 8-5 on a trio of Claflin miscues after the set was 5-5.
-The Panthers bounced back with four-straight points to take a 9-8 lead, but the hosts won five of the next six points and never trailed again.
-The icing on the cake was a 4-0 run up 21-19, capped off by a block from Tyndall and April Tankersley and another Tyndall kill.

NOTABLES
-The Braves' 13 blocks ties a season high, led by eight block assists from Elliott and a trio from Ashwell and Elly Hicks.
-Elliott's 12 kills paced the home squad, while Ashwell tacked on seven.
-Cayce Bell notched 20 digs on the back line to bring her within 94 of 1,000 in her UNCP career. Prior to the match, Bell's 6.02 digs per set ranked 11th in the country.
-Bailee Jones dished out a team-high 23 assists and added five digs, one kill and a pair of service aces.

UP NEXT
The Braves head south on I-95 for a Peach Belt Conference (PBC) battle with Flagler on Saturday in St. Augustine, Florida. First serve is set for 1 p.m. at the Flagler Gymnasium. The Saints (8-3, 2-1 PBC) are winners of three straight, including a pair of five setters over Augusta and Lander. Flagler has won 17 of the 18 all-time meetings with UNCP. The lone Black & Gold victory came in a 2014 meeting in Pembroke.