WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- In her final match in Kaplan Arena,
Julia Brown hit .562 and downed a career-high tying 21 kills in a Senior Day win over Elon.
Maddie Meyers added 14 kills and
Lauren Merrill and
Kaitlyn Ferguson both added nine in the five-set victory.
Brown's impact was not just felt on the offensive side of the net as the graduate student also added five blocks, three digs, and a service ace. Freshman
Amy Schwem dished out 46 assists and had 11 digs to record yet another double-double and Merrill just missed her own double-double with 13 digs to complement her nine kills.
In the opening set, senior
Madeleine Bertz set the tone, opening the match with one of her two digs on the afternoon. Bertz would later add two blocks in the frame as the Tribe held Elon to a .000 hitting percentage. Brown was electric in the opener with six kills and senior
Anne Louise Seekford added a pair of digs as the Tribe took the opener 25-22.
Elon's offense got going in the second frame with 12 kills despite
Anna Porter amassing six digs in the set. Merrill chipped in with four digs and three kills in the frame, but the story for the Tribe offense in the second was Meyers who downed five balls on 11 chances. The Phoenix would pull away late for a 25-21 victory.
The Green and Gold offense was dynamic in the third hitting .435 as a team on the way to a 25-17 set win. Brown and Meyers each had four kills in the frame without committing an error, and Porter and
Bella Easton added service aces in the effort. Overall, the team had 11 kills with just one error in the dominant third set.
Elon bounced back in the fourth as neither team could get going offensively. The Tribe held the Phoenix to a .156 hitting percentage, but could only muster a .162 rate on their own side. Brown had five more kills in the frame but the six attack errors undid the Green and Gold as the Phoenix forced a deciding frame with a 25-22 win.
Elon jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the fifth, but the Tribe fought back with five straight points to double up on the Phoenix 6-3. Brown converted all four of her attempts to kills as the team hit .600 in a dominant 15-8 victory capped off by a service ace by Porter.
Up Next: The Green and Gold will head out on the road next week for a pair of matches with UNCW. The Tribe and Seahawks will face off Saturday and Sunday in Wilmington.
