Lions Outlast Brevard in Five Sets

BREVARD, N.C.- For the second time the season the Mars Hill volleyball team defeated Brevard in five sets, topping the Tornados 24-26, 25-20, 26-28, 25-23 and 15-7 in Boshamer Gymnasium on Saturday night. The Lions improve to 9-17 overall and 8-11 in the South Atlantic Conference while Brevard falls to 10-16 and 4-15. Mars Hill prevailed in five sets at home over Brevard on October 4.

Rebecca Butler led the Lion attack with 27 kills, followed by Mary Kate Griffin with 18 kills and Lauren Hochstetler with 11 kills. Hochstetler and Victoria Kaiser each had two aces. Christen Nicholson led the Lion defense with 29 digs, followed by Griffin with 21 and Butler with 19. Hannah Wilson finished with 18 digs, with Kaiser contributing 13 digs.

Kindle Kirkham led the Tornados with 15 kills, followed by Fatima Gharachorloo with 14. Aleksandra Vrvilo had 36 digs, followed by Erin Barr with 19, Maggie Weiss with 16 and Gharachorloo with 15.

The Lions broke a 19-all tie in the first set and held a 24-21 lead before Brevard tied the set at 24 on a Lion attack error. Gharachorloo followed with two consecutive kills to give the Tornados a 26-24 win. The second set was tied at 16 before the Lions went on a 4-0 run to take a 20-16 lead and didn't let Brevard get closer than two points the rest of the way for a 25-20 victory.

Mars Hill led 24-21 in the third set before Brevard scored three straight points to tie the set at 24. The teams would trade the next four points before a Gharachorloo kill and a Lion error put the Tornados up 2-1. The Lions held a 23-18 lead late in the fourth set and held off a Brevard rally to force a deciding fifth set.

In the fifth set, the Lions dashed out to a 5-2 lead before Brevard cut the Lion lead to 6-5. Mars Hill would finish the set on a 9-2 run to claim the match.

Mars Hill will play their final road game of the season on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Tusculum.