BREVARD, N.C. - Junior outside hitter Makenna Parkins drove home a career-high 23 kills and junior outside hitter Kaitlyn Pressley totaled the seventh triple-double of her Tornado career, but the Brevard College volleyball team (2-14, 0-7 USA South) fell in five sets as the Salem College Spirits (10-5, 3-2 USAS) rallied off three consecutive set wins to take a five-set victory, 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 16-25, 13-15), on Tuesday evening at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
Parkins, a junior from Marion, North Carolina, exploded for 23 kills for her first 20+ kill output of her career. The mark gives Parkins five double-digit kill totals this season.
Pressley, a junior from Brevard, North Carolina, totaled the seventh triple-double of her BC career with 13 kills to go alongside a season-high 33 assists and 12 digs.
Blair Nance, a freshman outside hitter from Roxboro, North Carolina, logged a career-best 13 kills while sophomore outside hitter Ashley Hoxit added a double-double with 10 kills and 17 digs. Bailey Lance led the Tornado defense with 32 digs while Logan Priddy dished out 23 assists.
Salem's Aspen Bradley logged 20 kills, with Ella Brameus adding 22 digs. Ashlyn Wood (27 assists) and Ashlee Peek (22 assists) facilitated the Spirit offense.
Brevard was able to take the first two sets, but the Spirits turned the tide after a 25-20 set three victory was followed by a nine-point set four win, 25-16. Salem and Brevard then battled in a winner-take-all fifth set, with the visitors earning the 15-13 triumph in the match-deciding set.
The Tornados opened up a 10-4 lead in the first set, forcing Salem to call a timeout. BC led by as many as seven points, 15-8, before the Spirits battled back to tie the stanza late, 23-23. A Salem attack error followed by Parkins' fifth kill of the set gave the hosts the first set victory, 25-23.
BC and Salem battled in a highly-contested second set that featured eight ties and four lead changes. The Tornados opened up a 9-4 advantage before Salem took a pair of leads midway through the set, 15-14 and 19-18. With the score tied 20-20, Brevard was able to win five out of the next six points to take a 2-0 match victory with a 25-21 second set win.
Salem led the third set throughout the early goings before the Tornados rallied to tie the stanza, 14-14. The visitors scored the next four points before Brevard battled to cut the deficit down to just one point, 21-20. Salem used three kills and an attack error to take the third set, 25-20.
The visitors were able to control the fourth set from the early stages, surging ahead for a seven-point lead, 16-9 before clinching the stanza and forcing a fifth set, 25-16.
Set number five was hotly-contested, with seven ties and three lead changes total. Salem gained some distance with three-consecutive points to give itself an 8-5 advantage, but the Tornados battled back to tie the set, 10-10.
Salem scored the next three points before BC used a pair of Parkins kills and a Nance kill to pull within one point, 14-13, however, Salem clinched the hard-fought win as Rymer tallied the game-winning kill.
The Tornados head back to Buena Vista, Virginia on Saturday for another USA South quad match hosted by Southern Virginia University. Brevard will face NC Wesleyan University at 12 p.m. before taking on Methodist University at 2 p.m.
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-BC-