FLORENCE, S.C. – With a match in the books and a rebound needed, the UNC Pembroke volleyball squad answered the bell and clobbered Converse in straight sets in its second match of the Coker/FMU Invitational on Friday at Francis Marion. The Black & Gold battled in each set in the opening match, but Catawba escaped with a 3-0 victory. 

MATCH 1
Score: UNC Pembroke 0, Catawba 3 (19-25, 21-25, 19-25)
Records: UNC Pembroke (0-1); Catawba (1-0)
Location: Smith University Center

HOW IT HAPPENED
Box Score/Play-by-Play

FIRST SET
-Neither side led by more than two points until Catawba used a 6-2 run to grab a 12-9 edge.
-UNCP answered with five-straight points, including a pair of kills and a block by Aquia Jones, to lead 14-12.
-Following a Catawba timeout, the Indians rattled off five of the next six points and never trailed again.
-The Braves pulled within two at 21-19, but Catawba used three kills and an attack error to claim the final four points of the set.

SECOND SET
-The Indians jumped out to an early lead and scored five-straight points to lead 13-7 and force UNCP to call timeout.
-Trailing 18-11, the Black & Gold went on a 6-0 run, including a pair of kills from Amber Tyndall, to pull within one at 18-17.
-A Catawba kill followed by a service ace put the Indians up three and the Braves never got closer than two the rest of the way.

THIRD SET
-Both teams logged their best attack percentage of the match in the final set, as UNCP hit .200 and Catawba compiled a .256 mark.
-The Black & Gold led by two at 7-5 and held a slim 9-8 edge before Catawba scored three-straight points to grab an 11-9 advantage.
-A 4-1 Indian run put Catawba up 14-10 and the squad from Salisbury turned a 17-14 lead into a commanding 22-14 advantage to put the set and match away.

NOTABLES
-Catawba hit .226 for the match, while the Braves logged a .131 attack percentage and 30 kills in defeat.
-The Indians held an advantage in kills (43-30), aces (9-2), blocks (3-2), assists (42-30) and digs (45-42).
-Aquia Jones led all Braves with 10 kills, which is the 12th time in her career she has logged double-digit kills. Her .600 attack percentage (15 total attacks, one error) was also tops on the team.
-Tyndall added eight kills on 25 total attacks, while Elly Hicks tacked on four kills in just one set of action.
-Casey O'Quinn dished out a team-high 12 assists and was just one dig away from a double-double with nine digs. Bailee Jones racked p 10 assists and four digs, while Anna Heinz and Raven Oates had 11 digs each.

MATCH 2
Score: UNC Pembroke 3, Converse 0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-18)
Records: UNC Pembroke (1-1); Converse (0-2)
Location: Smith University Center

HOW IT HAPPENED
Box Score/Play-by-Play

FIRST SET
-The Braves hit a match high .257 in the opening set, including 15 kills on 35 total attacks.
-With the match knotted at 7-7, UNCP went on a run for the ages with 13-straight points to take a commanding 20-7 lead and coasted to the first-set victory.
-Shannon Skryd was at the serving helm for 12 of the 13 points and picked up two aces, while Hicks notched five kills during the stretch and Tyndall added four kills.

SECOND SET
-UNCP used a 5-0 run to flip a 5-3 deficit into an 8-5 lead early in the set, but Converse battled back to pull even at 17-17.
-Back-to-back Skryd aces put the Black & Gold up 20-17 and the Braves held on for the 25-21 set two triumph. 

THIRD SET
-Three UNCP kills in a four-point span handed the Braves a 13-9 lead after being tied at 9-9 and the Black & Gold rattled off three-straight points later in the set to go up 18-12.
-Converse pulled within four at 20-16, but UNCP put its foot on the pedal with a 4-0 run to lead 24-16 and all but wrap up the straight-sets victory.

NOTABLES
-The Braves limited Converse to a .042 attack percentage across all three sets, which would have been the second-lowest clip of an opponent in all of 2017.
-UNCP's .162 hitting percentage against Converse would have ranked eighth in the 2017 campaign.
-The Black & Gold held an advantage in kills (39-28), aces (7-1), blocks (8-3), assists (36-28) and digs (56-41).
-Hicks logged a career-high 11 kills, while Tyndall also tacked on 11 and a .500 attack percentage.
-Skryd's four service aces were a team best and the freshman added 12 digs, four kills and a block.
-Heinz led all Braves with 13 digs, while O'Quinn handed out 19 assists and tacked on six digs. O'Quinn's 19 assists are just two off her career high.
-Freshman Brianna Warren had a match high six blocks to compliment three kills and six digs.

UP NEXT
The Braves wrap up the Coker/FMU Invitational on Saturday with a pair of matches in Hartsville. UNCP will battle Anderson (1-0) at 3 p.m. before taking on host Coker (1-0) at 7 p.m. at the Harris E. & Louise DeLoach Center. Fans unable to make the trip can find live video and live stats links at uncpvball.com.