BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College women's volleyball (9-18, 8-8 USAS) completed its regular season with a split of two matches as part of a USA South Conference Tri-Match on Saturday afternoon at the Boshamer Gymnasium that included Senior Day and Dig Pink tributes.
Brevard defeated Wesleyan College (2-19, 1-13 USAS) in a three-set sweep, before dropping a match to Covenant (20-8, 14-2 USAS). BC will next turn its attention to the postseason as the Tornados had previously clinched a berth to the USA South Conference Volleyball Tournament, which begins Tuesday, November 2.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Pressley led the Tornados in the win over Wesleyan with a 10-kill, 11-assist performance. It marked the tenth time this season that the Brevard, North Carolina native has tallied double-digit kills and her 12th time with 10 or more assists.
Freshman Ashley Hoxit registered nine kills, while sophomore Makenna Parkins delivered seven kills to go along with 10 digs. Sophomore Bailey Lance led the Tornados with 10 digs, while freshman Logan Priddy led BC with 13 assists.
Lance recorded six service aces to lead the way as the Tornados served a season-high 22 aces in the match. Lance's six aces tied her for fourth in the BC record book for most aces in a single match in school history.
In addition to Lance, freshman Melanie Hoyle served four aces, while Graham, Hoxit, Parkins, and Priddy each served three aces en route to the season-high total.
BC won the first set 25-16, then dominated Wesleyan 25-11 in set two. The Tornados put away the match by winning six of the final seven points in the third set capped off by an electric kill by Hoxit off an assist from Graham for match point.
The second match of the day saw Covenant defeat BC 25-18 in set one, 25-12 in set two, and 25-20 in the third set. The match featured eight ties and six lead changes with the Tornados taking several leads in both the first and third sets. Ultimately, the Scots pulled away in the third set despite a furious 5-0 scoring run by the Tornados late in the match.
Priddy dished out 15 assists in the second contest, while Lance led BC defensively with 17 digs. Pressley tallied eight kills and nine assists, to go along with seven kills and two aces from Hoxit.
Saturday's regular-season finales were commemorated with two special events. Prior to the first match of the day vs. Wesleyan, BC's senior class of Morgan Graham and Brook Groves were honored in a pre-game special ceremony.
Graham, a senior defensive specialist from Covington, Virginia, will graduate from BC in the Spring with a Bachelor's degree in art with a double concentration in digital media and photography. In her career, she appeared in 78 matches totaling 435 digs, 54 service aces and 66 assists in her four-year career.
Groves, a senior right-side hitter from Belmont, North Carolina, will graduate from Brevard College in the Spring with a Bachelor's in health science with a minor in pre-law. Groves appeared in 72 matches in her career, amassing 173 kills, 156 digs and 26 total blocks.
The second match of the day marked the Dig Pink game for the Tornados with the entire team adorning pink uniforms. The Dig Pink program funds metastatic breast cancer research and treatments through The Side-Out Foundation. For more information, go to side-out.org.
Brevard will begin USA South Conference Tournament play this week, marking the first time since 2015 that the Tornados have qualified for the postseason in volleyball. Brackets, pairings and full tournament information are still to be announced. Go to usasouth.net for more information.
To follow the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, follow the Tornados on Twitter and Instagram @bctornados, subscribe to 'Brevard College Tornados' on YouTube, follow 'Brevard College Tornados' on SoundCloud, and like 'Brevard College Athletics' on Facebook. In addition, follow 'brevardcollege' on Flickr for photos from Brevard College events.
-BC-
