The Braves finished the season with an impressive home court record of 12-2. In conference play the Braves had a winning percentage of .824. File Photos/ Andrew Thrift
By: Andrew Thrift and Zachary C. Young
After a phenomenal season in Conference Carolinas, the Braves headed to the Conference Carolinas Championship where hopes were high, but their opponent had other plans.
In their first matchup against the Erskine Flying Fleet, the game went exactly how the Braves had hoped. In a 3-0 win on their home court, the Braves beat the Flying Fleet to head to the semifinals.
In the first set, the Braves dropped the first two points but got it together with six-straight points to make the game even. The Braves then got a 5-1 run to take the lead over the Flying Fleet to finish the first set 25-14.
In the second set, the teams split the first 12 points of the second set but got nine of the 10 points to take the lead again. The Flying Fleet pushed hard, racking up four points after the fact, but the Braves got nine more points to win the set 25-14.
In the final set of the game, the Braves got 18 kills and hit 0.415 at the net in the set. Erskin pushed hard with 11 points, but a kill from Brianna Warren was the icing on the cake for the Braves to go on an 11-1 run winning them the set 25-13.
In the Conference Carolinas Semifinals, the Braves took on the North Greenville Crusaders. The Braves lost in three straight sets.
In the first set, the Braves scored the first point, but the Crusaders answered back with four straight points and never gave up their lead.
The final for set one was 25-18.
In set two, the Crusaders commanded the lead from the first point. The final score was 25-7.
In the third and final set, the Braves put up a fight until the mid-point of the set when the score was 10-13. After that the Crusaders scored four straight points and never looked back. The final to set three was 25-18.
Brianna Warren led the way for the Braves both offensively and defensively, being responsible for 8.5 points and seven kills. Elly Hicks and Katelyn West also contributed seven kills apiece for the Braves.
In the Conference Carolinas, UNCP finished second in hitting percentage with a total of .206%, second only to North Greenville. The Braves also finished second in the conference with kills per game, averaging 12.59, second only to North Greenville.
Brianna Warren finished the season with a .353 hitting percentage, second in the conference. Warren also finished second in the conference in blocks per match, averaging 1.06.
Katie Pressley finished second in the conference in assists, averaging 9.8 per match.
For the 2021 season, UNCP finished second in the conference with a record of 14-3. The Braves also finished the season with an overall record of 23-11.