WILMINGTON, N.C. – Though falling 3-1 (25-21, 26-28, 25-20, 25-21) to UNCW on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 12, the Elon University volleyball team clinched a spot in the CAA Tournament for the first time since joining the conference before the 2014 season.
 
"We started out the match playing really solid volleyball," said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. "I liked how well we were competing for every point. That paid off for us in the second set to overcome such a big deficit. I'm really proud of the players for being mentally strong and clinching our first CAA Tournament bid. That was a tough task when the team who was trying to steal it from us was on the other side of the net in its home gym."
 
Elon heads into next week's CAA Tournament with a 16-15 record and a 5-11 mark in CAA play. UNCW ends its 2017 campaign with a 10-18 record with a 4-12 mark in conference play.
 
THE RUNDOWN
The Phoenix opened the afternoon with an 8-6 lead in Hanover Hall after Sydney Busa put down her fourth consecutive kill. Though the Seahawks went on a 6-1 run to lead 12-9, Elon answered and brought the set within one on multiple occasions before tying things up at 19-all after a 3-1 run. Out of a UNCW timeout, though, the Seahawks came out with a 6-2 run to take the 25-21 set.
 
To open the second set, UNCW went on a 9-0 run to take control early. Though Elon had used both of its timeouts, the Phoenix stayed even with the Seahawks in keeping the deficit at eight. But with UNCW earning set point at 24-16, Elon put together a run to tie the set at 24-all. Though UNCW again took set point at 25-24, Elon answered the call again with a Kam Terry kill. The Phoenix went up 26-25 after a Seahawk error, but a Sydney Brock kill tied things at 26-all. Elon 28-26 win.
 
Though starting the third set trading the first six points, UNCW went on a 7-0 run to take a 10-3 lead. After two Phoenix points, the Seahawks again put together a 6-0 run to go up 16-5. Elon pulled its way back to within one down the stretch at 21-20 after a Busa kill, but UNCW finished off the set with a 4-0 run to win 25-20.
 
In the fourth, UNCW started out on a 5-1 run that was pushed to 7-3 before the Phoenix went on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to one. Elon stayed within a point of the Seahawks until UNCW pushed its advantage to four at 12-8. After an Elon timeout, Elon rattled off a 6-1 run to go back up 14-13. The two teams traded points until it was 17-all, but UNCW went on a 3-0 run to lead 20-17 and didn't look back from there on the way to the 25-21 win.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Busa, Terry and Kodi Garcia all posted double-doubles in the match. Busa finished with 17 kills and 19 digs while Terry collected 15 kills and 17 digs. Garcia had a 43-assist, 10-dig afternoon and Maddie Jaudon had a match-high 28 digs. Pavlick paced Elon's block with four in the loss.
 
Maddy Kline led UNCW with 17 kills and 11 digs. Brock also posted 13 kills and finished with a .367 hitting percentage. Katie McCullough led the Seahawks with 21 digs and Brynn Montgomery had 28 assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix will head to Harrisonburg, Va., for the CAA Tournament. Earning the No. 6 seed in the tournament, Elon will take on third-seeded James Madison in the single-elimination tournament. First serve is set for 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, in Sinclair Gym.