St. Andrews Slips Past Volleyball in Four Sets

Laurinburg, North Carolina- The Brenau volleyball team pushed St. Andrews University in each set but came up just short in a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-27, 25-23) Appalachian Athletic Conference loss on Tuesday.

Down 19-18 in the first set, the Golden Tigers stormed to a 7-1 run as a service ace by sophomore Mackenzie Kirby started the run, then a kill by freshman Annabeth Vandiver added to the lead. Sophomore Rachel Hodges capped off the run with another service ace to make the score 22-19. A kill by junior Kayleigh Reece increased the Golden Tigers' lead to 24-21 and an attack error by the Knights' Kandon Luquer closed out the set victory for Brenau.

After St. Andrews captured the second set to even the score, the momentum continued for the hosts as the Knights jumped out to a 21-17 lead. Again the Golden Tigers answered as back-to-back kills by Hodges and sophomore Sydney Norton closed the gap to 21-19. Kirby posted another service ace and Reece added a kill to even the score at 21-21. However, St. Andrews closed the set with a 5-3 advantage to escape with the win.

In the final set, the Golden Tigers again held advantage at 19-16, but were unable to hold the lead as the Knights closed the match with a 9-4 run to take the victory.

Vandiver led the Golden Tigers with eight kills, while Kirby and junior Jordan Diaz each posted 28 digs.

Katirya Hernandez-Martinez led St. Andrews with nine kills.

Brenau (1-13 overall, 1-5 AAC) next travels to face non-conference Toccoa Falls (Ga.) College on Thursday at 7 pm.