Visiting Flagler spoils UNCP volleyball home finale

The Robesonian, Lumberton, N.C.
·3 min read

Apr. 10—PEMBROKE — The UNC Pembroke volleyball team totaled 10 blocks and held Peach Belt Conference-leading Flagler to just a .166 hitting night at the net, but the visiting Saints used late-set rallies to spoil senior night for the Braves with a 3-1 victory (15-25, 25-22, 17-25, 21-25) over UNCP on Friday evening.

The result put an end to a four-match home win streak for UNCP (6-6, 6-6 PBC) who receded into a fourth-place tie with league nemesis Georgia College in the race for one of four berths into the conference tournament. Flagler (14-3, 12-1 PBC) clinched at least a share of the league's regular season title with the result, and also remained perfect in 15 all-time meetings with UNCP in St. Augustine, Fla.

Flagler stormed out of the gates in an attempt to set the tone for the night with a 10-point victory in the opening set, 25-15. The Saints hit .313 in the first set and committed just four errors, but it was an 8-0 run midway through that ultimately proved to be the difference.

UNCP went back to its bread and butter to knot the evening up with a win in set No. 2. The hosts registered five blocks in the second set alone, and held the visitors to just a .041 hitting percentage on the way to a 25-22 result. The Braves trailed 7-6 early, but recorded four-straight points to take the lead, and then pulled away later in the set thanks to a 6-0 run.

The Braves used an attack error to forge an 8-7 lead in the third set, but the Saints responded with 11 consecutive points and never looked back on the way to swinging the momentum for good, winning the set 25-17. UNCP committed six hitting errors to fuel the decisive run by the Saints, including three of the unforced variety.

Flagler tacked up eight of the first 11 points in the fourth and deciding set of the night, but the Braves did not go away quietly. The hosts rallied for four-straight points to pull to within one, 8-7, but a late 4-1 run by the Saints pushed them over the edge. The Braves made it a two-point set, 21-19, on a kill by Kaila Crowder, but the visitors scored four of the set's final six points to finish off the night at 25-21.

Kaila Crowder led the Braves with 11 kills, Shannon Skyrd had 10 and Brianna Warren had eight. Katie Pressley had 22 assists and Morgan Gibbs had 19. Skyrd had 16 digs and Elise Martin had 15. Erin O'Donnell had five blocks and Warren had four.

UNCP will embark on a regular-season ending two-match road trip on April 16 when they head to Greenwood, S.C., to lock horns with Lander (2-9, 2-9 PBC) inside Horne Arena. First serve has been scheduled for 6 p.m.