Brevard, NC - The Southern Virginia University women's volleyball team will come home smiling again thanks to another weekend sweep of USA South competition. The Knights defeated N.C. Wesleyan in their first match, 3-0, then defeated the tri-match hosts, Brevard, in their second match.

Match 1

Against N.C. Wesleyan, it was relatively smooth sailing in the early going for Southern Virginia, with Brenna Clyde getting on the board first with a couple of kills. Later on, seven consecutive points and a solo block from Sydney Bassett capped off a first-set victory. A similarly dominant run at the start of the second frame crushes the morale of their opponent. Brookelyn Madland found her groove with five kills in ten Knights' points, and Baylee Savage produced a couple of service aces to vault the Knights into a 12-4 lead. Ruby Blamires collected assists at an impressive rate, producing 33 in just three sets. A 25-15 set two victory put the Knights on the cusp of another sweep.

Service aces became the theme of the third set, as the Knights racked up five of them in the final frame. Baylee Savage became responsible for two more to total four in the match, while Sydney Bassett and Gracie Fulton added a few more. They went on to complete the sweep, overwhelming the Bishops by a score of 25-9 in the third. Fulton led the team with 23 digs, and Brookelyn Madland had 17 kills to lead the squad.

Match 2

In their second match of the day, the Knights had a rematch with Brevard, the only team to have defeated them thus far in conference play. It became a back-and-forth first set; each team could gather only a couple of points in a row. Brevard led by as much as 13-10 at one point, but Southern Virginia came back with a vengeance, sparked by a strong attacking presence from Katelyn Wankier to win the first set, 25-22. 

In the second set, the Knights looked to take care of business from the beginning, jumping out to a 16-5 lead. Brevard showed resilience after the early deficit, trimming the lead to as little as four, but Brookelyn Madland and Brenna Clyde's kills shut down the comeback attempt. The third and potentially final set was tightly contested all the way through. Again, Brevard managed to overcome an early deficit to put the Knights under pressure. With the Knights trailing 17-20, Sydney Bassett converted on a crucial attack to keep the Knights within striking distance. They also staved off set point three times, eventually taking the lead. Brookelyn Madland punctuated the effort by earning the final kill to knock off Brevard.

The weekend sweep brings Southern Virginia's record to 14-9, but more importantly, it brings them to 10-1 in the conference, where they currently hold first place. The team will shift its focus to its next opponent, Greensboro. The match will be on Greensboro's home court on Wednesday, October 23rd, at 6:00 PM. For the most up-to-date information and details on the team, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knightwvolleyball on Instagram.