BUENA VISTA, Va.  Methodist volleyball was in Virginia for a road USA South Athletic Conference quad-match on Saturday. In the morning the Monarchs lost to host Southern Virginia University, 3-0, before playing Brevard College later that afternoon and won 3-1 in Knights Arena.

JUST THE FACTS
Final scores: Southern Virginia def. Methodist, 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-14); Methodist def. Brevard, 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-14, 25-11)
Records: Methodist 9-10 (4-5 USA South), Southern Virginia 13-6 (7-1), Brevard 2-16 (0-9)
Location: Knights Arena; Buena Vista, Virginia

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Methodist kept set one of the first match against the Knights close, in the early part, only being down by two (11-9). Then Southern Virginia went on a 6-0 run to extend their lead 17-9. After that it was all Knights the rest of the way with the Monarchs only accumulating three more points.
• In the closest game between Methodist and Southern Virginia, a similar story was playing out like the previous set. The Monarch were in it early on, the Knights used a 6-0 run to jump out, but this time Methodist powered their way back to a three-point difference, 23-20. Unfortunately, this comeback attempt was extinguished by Southern Virginia as the Knights tallied the last few points they need to take the set.
• Set three saw Southern Virginia get out to a commanding 10-2 advantage. The Knights kept their offensive onslaught going until the score reached 20-7, the largest deficit of the match. The Monarchs would actually outscore Southern Virginia 7-5 in the final 12 points to make it 25-14.
• For set one of the Methodist versus Brevard match, the Monarchs found themselves down 14-11. An 8-1 run by Methodist, with Jeanana Fowler scoring four of those points, helped the team take the lead 19-15. The Monarchs capped the first set off by scoring the final six points to take it 25-16.
• The next game could have gone either way for both teams. One side would get up by two or three before the other side either tied it back up or went up themselves. The biggest reason to why the Tornadoes were able to win this set was because of a late 5-0 run to go up 23-19. Methodist was able to get within one, 24-23, but could not prevent Brevard from getting that last point.
• Game number three was firmly in control by the Monarchs with the team up 11-3. A 5-0 run by Methodist a few points later got the Monarchs out to a 16-4 advantage. The Tornadoes did not have a chance to get back in this set as Methodist went on to take it 25-14.
• Set four saw the Monarchs up 6-2 and looked like they were going to win this set easily. Brevard though did not go down without a fight and stayed within a four-point difference of the Methodist lead, 15-11. Then the Monarchs went on a huge rally by tallying the final 10 points to claim the match.

FACTS/FIGURES

• Leading the way for Methodist was Fowler with 22 total kills for the day. Right behind her was Geneva Barriger with 19 and also reaching double digits was Leann Sessoms (11).
• The Monarchs offense was night and day in these matches against the Knights and the Tornadoes. Versus Southern Virginia, Methodist had an extremely low attack percentage of .079 to the Knights .327, but it turned around when the Monarch (.312) played Brevard (.064).
• Defensively, Carrie Jordan led the team in digs by accumulating 27 between both matches.

UP NEXT
Methodist continues with their road stand on Wednesday with a USA South bout with William Peace University at 7 PM.