By Jayden Berkin, Sports Reporter
The UNC Pembroke Volleyball team stretched their win streak to five games when they picked up a huge win against the University of Mount OliveTrojans on Wedensday night in a Conference Carolina clash. After taking the first set and dropping the second set, the Braves didn’t back down, claiming the next two sets for a 3-1 win over the Trojans (25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 27-25).
The Braves started off strong, taking a 11-5 lead early in the first set and kept that same momentum, despite the Trojans strong effort at a comeback, allowing UNCP to win the set 25-19. The second set saw both teams trade scoring runs where Mount Olive held a 21-16 lead that quickly cut into a 21-19 lead thanks to a strong effort from the Braves, but the Trojans managed to hold on, winning the set 25-23 to tie the match at 1-1.
The third set was a close one and saw both teams fight until the very end. UNCP kicked off the set with a promising 11-7 lead, but quickly turned into a 20-17 deficit. The Braves never lost hope despite the hole they were in and came back to win the set 25-23, putting them on top 2-1. The fourth set was the most challenging of the night for the Braves, as we saw both teams trade kill for kill and shot for shot. In the final stages of the set, down 24-25, the Braves went on a 3-0 run to win the final set by a score of 27-25 and secure the win at home.
“Don’t try to do too much, just simplify the game, I think when the game is tense and we’re up 2-1 it’s more about not putting pressure on ourselves but making sure we’re just playing our game, our ball, our pace and I think that’s what we did and it ultimately came down to our defense, we had a season high of 11 blocks tonight and that’s something we also talked about so the defensive side of the ball is how we were able to pull out those sets”, UNCP coach Jaleesa Harper said regarding the 4th and final set.
Vanja Przulj led the team in kills, aces and digs tonight with 23 kills, two aces and 20 digs. Abby Peduzzi tallied 12 kills and Emma Fraidenburg had nine kills. Pressley tallied 43 assists and 16 digs on the night and Hope Turbyfill recorded seven assists, along with 19 digs. Ruby Countryman led the team in blocks with nine, followed by Turbyfill who had seven and Przulj who had two blocks at the net.
“We talk about non-negotiables all the time in our practices, we talk about things that we can’t waver on, things that are expected of us even on our worst days, so, just knowing the expectations that we have for each other and building that trust, having that communication, having that trust, having that fire just helps us in every single game”, senior Katie Pressley said regarding the team’s chemistry throughout this win streak.
The Braves (11-7, 6-2 CC) hit the road this Friday to take on Erskine College (1-15, 1-5 CC) in Due West, S.C in Belk Arena at 7 p.m.