ELON, N.C. – UNCW spoiled the start of Homecoming Weekend for Elon University volleyball as the team fell 3-1 Friday night, Nov. 1 at Schar Center. 
 
"Our defense struggled early, but we were able to pick it up midway through the match," said head coach Mary Tendler. "UNCW did a great job blocking and had a couple of hitters get hot. We will look to have a better start to the match on Sunday as we celebrate our two seniors in their last home match."

The Phoenix is now 12-14 overall and 6-6 in the CAA, while the Seahawks move to 13-11, 3-8.
 
UNCW 3, Elon 1 | 22-25, 23-25, 25-16, 19-25
THE RUNDOWN
Down 5-2 in the opening set, Elon took over as a Leah Daniel score began a 6-0 push. Following a UNCW timeout, the Phoenix stretched its lead to 12-7 on a Jenn Krzeminski kill. After the Seahawks pulled even at 13-13, it was a close contest until an attack error and a UNCW point sent the maroon and gold back its bench trailing 23-21. Haylie Clark set up Kellyn Trowse for a kill, but the visitors earned the set point for a 25-22 decision.

 Elon scored the first six points of the next set, but couldn't halt a 7-0 spurt that gave the Seahawks the lead, 14-11. The Phoenix was on top 22-21 late, but a 4-1 swing made it a 2-0 match lead for the guests. An early 9-1 run helped Elon establish an early 12-5 advantage in Set Three, and the team never looked back from there. A pair of late kills by Daniel and a UNCW service error sealed a 25-16 result as the Phoenix cut the Seahawk lead in half, 2-1.

In the fourth set, Elizabeth Coil had a successful attack to tie the score at 10-10. However, UNCW pulled away with a significant 10-1 run that proved too much for the Phoenix. Trowse and Nori Thomas helped get Elon to within 23-19, but the Seahawks secured the final two points.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
On offense, Daniel swung for a .208 clip and a team-high 19 kills. The sophomore added seven digs and a block for 19.5 points. Trowse followed with 10 kills, and Thomas had a .500 hitting percentage with seven kills. Clark turned in a 20-assist, 10-dig double-double, and Kodi Garcia chipped in 23 assists with five digs and two service aces. Isabella Seman collected 17 digs with two aces, and Natalie Cummins made four blocks while also serving a pair of aces.

NOTES
-Elon now trails UNCW 24-15 in the all-time series.
-Clark is now at 10 double-doubles on the season. Through matches played on Oct. 28, she was tied with Trowse for the fourth-most double-doubles in the CAA this season.
-The St. Cloud, Fla. native eclipsed 700 career assists on the night.
-Garcia moves past Megan McMahon (2008-11) for fourth place on Elon's career assists leaders list. The Tomball, Texas native enters Sunday match with 2,682 assists in her time as a Phoenix.
-Garcia is also two digs away from reaching 600 for her career.
-Thomas is approaching a career milestone as she needs five more kills to reach 500.
-The match featured 28 ties and 11 lead changes.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to Schar Center this Sunday, Nov. 3 for Senior Day as the team hosts Charleston in a 1 p.m. conference tilt. Seniors Nori Thomas and Elizabeth Coil will be recognized before first serve.