STAUNTON, Va.  Facing a pair of familiar foes on Saturday, the Methodist women's volleyball team collected two more USA South wins over Brevard and Mary Baldwin.
 
With 47 assists in the first match and 37 in the second match, senior setter Hannah Hewett surpassed 3,000 assists in her career.

JUST THE FACTS
Final scores: Methodist def. Brevard, 3-1 (25-8, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15); Methodist def. Mary Baldwin, 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-17)
Records: Methodist 13-6 (8-4 USA South), Brevard 8-10 (5-6), Mary Baldwin 2-19 (0-11)
Event: USA South Tri-Match
Host: Mary Baldwin University
Location: Physical Act. Center; Staunton, Virginia

MATCH ONE - BREVARD

• The Monarchs simply dominated in the first set against the Tornados. After a 7-0 run to open the match, Methodist conceded one point before tearing through another seven points. Up 17-7, the Monarchs pieced together their third seven-point run of the set to make the score 24-7. After a final point for Brevard, Aniyah Tate earned a kill to advance the match to the second set.
• Appearing more composed, Brevard held a 5-3 lead in the second set. Methodist responded with yet another seven-point swing to take a 10-5 advantage. With the Monarchs ahead 14-7, the Tornados caught fire for nine of the next ten points, claiming a one-point lead. Taking advantage of some Brevard miscues and with Jamie Holton and Jeanana Fowler recording two kills each, Methodist earned 10 of the final 14 points to achieve another set victory.
• As the teams exchanged runs in the third set, it was Brevard who emerged on top, forcing a fourth set. The Monarchs attacked early in the fourth set, with Tate recording a kill and back-to-back service aces within the first five points. Methodist climbed to a 10-3 lead, which turned into 17-7, 20-10, and a final score of 25-20. Methodist's last five points were earned by Fowler and Tate, who tallied three and two kills respectively.

 
MATCH TWO - MARY BALDWIN

• It was a tightly contested start to the first set between the Monarchs and Fighting Squirrels, as the teams reached an even score of 9-9. Kills by Fowler, Holton, Savannah Hovander and Mahala Carter pushed Methodist ahead to a 15-12 advantage. The Monarchs took 10 of the final 11 points, turning what was a close set into a dominant set win.
• Methodist carried momentum into the next set, earning the first five points (two of which were Hannah Hewett service aces). Up 14-9, the Monarchs took 11 of the next 13 points (capped off by a Blake O'Brien service ace) to claim an even more lopsided victory in the second set.
• Methodist took the first two points of the third set with kills by Holton and Hovander. With the score tied at 6-6, the Monarchs won six of the next seven points to take a 12-7 lead. The Fighting Squirrels clawed back, earning six of the next eight to reduce their deficit to one (14-13). Methodist had one more run to make though, as the Monarchs took nine of the next ten points, including four kills by Holton, three by Fowler, and a service ace each for O'Brien and Julia Mundy. Two more kills by Fowler were all the Monarchs needed to win the set and match.

MORE TO IT

• Jamie Holton had an excellent day, recording 18 kills in each match. Her hitting percentages of .421 versus Brevard and .586 versus Mary Baldwin were her best this season.
• As usual, Blake O'Brien led the Monarchs in digs, recording 6.25 per set versus Brevard and 6.33 versus Mary Baldwin.

UP NEXT
Methodist travels to William Peace University on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match.