BREVARD, N.C. – Freshman outside hitter Ashley Hoxit racked up 12 kills in her collegiate debut, but the Brevard College volleyball team (0-1) fell in four sets, 3-1, to visiting Emory & Henry College (1-0) in BC's season-opener at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
Hoxit, a native of nearby Rosman, North Carolina, led all Tornados with 12 kills alongside seven digs in her first collegiate performance. Hoxit joined seven total Tornados who made their BC debut in Thursday evening's contest.
Kaitlyn Pressley led the way defensively with a team-high 15 digs in addition to dishing out 16 assists for a double-double effort. The Brevard High School alumna also added six kills to her ledger. Sophomore transfer Bailey Lance added 13 digs on the defensive end, while freshman Logan Priddy distributed 11 assists. Makenna Parkins (seven kills), Breanna O'Shields (six kills), and Melanie Hoyle (five kills) also contributed offensively for the Tornados.
Emory & Henry was led by Carley Williams on the offensive end with 12 kills, while Camden Jones racked up a game-high 18 digs. Paige Halcrow facilitated the Wasp offense with 18 assists, a game-high total.
Set number one proved to be a back-and-forth stanza, as the two sides traded 11 ties and four lead changes throughout. With the score tied at 9-9, EHC used a kill and three consecutive service aces to take a four-point lead, 13-9. Brevard battled back, however, taking an 18-17 lead after a Hoyle kill. However, with the score deadlocked at 19-19, the Wasps rallied six consecutive points to clinch the first set, 25-19.
BC established its footing in set number two, taking a lead at 11-10 that it would not relinquish throughout the remainder of the set. A kill by Parkins and a pair of Hoxit strikes gave the Tornados a three-point advantage, 14-11, before a Pressley kill gave BC its largest lead of the set, 18-14. Emory & Henry battled back, tying the set at 22-22, but the Tornados pulled away as Hoxit drove home a kill followed by a Priddy service ace and a Wasp attack error, wrapping up the set in favor of Brevard 25-22.
The Wasps jumped out to the early advantage in set three, leading wire-to-wire to take a 2-1 match lead. Emory & Henry bolted to leads of 11-4 and 20-12 before closing out the set, 25-18. The fourth and final set was played tightly through the first 22 points, with the Wasps holding a slim two-point lead, 12-10. EHC strung together a 9-2 scoring run to establish a 21-12 lead before ultimately claiming a 25-15 set win, clinching the match 3-1.
The Tornados return to action this weekend, taking part in the Emory Classic in Atlanta, hosted by Emory University. Brevard will take on host Emory on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before a doubleheader on Saturday against LaGrange College (10 a.m.) and Willamette University (12:30 p.m.).
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-BC-