Volleyball Defeats Bryan in Five Sets

The Brenau volleyball team defeated Bryan College in a five-set thriller (23-25,25-13,20-25,25-20,15-8) to capture their sixth conference win of the season in Dayton, Tennessee on Friday.

After dropping the first set 25-23, the Golden Tigers jumped out to an early 6-1 lead to begin the second set en route to a dominating 25-13 win to tie the match at 1-1.

The two teams split the third and fourth sets to send the match to a final fifth set.

In the fifth set, the Golden Tigers began with an 8-2 start behind two kills by Lanier Leonard and consecutive service aces from Haley Ponder. The visitors continued to overwhelm the host Lions, increasing their lead to as many as 10 in the frame. At match point, Savannah Wilbanks set Patience Thurmond for her sixth kill of the match to close out the victory.

The squad topped off the victory with several outstanding statistical performances. Sophomore setter Savannah Wilbanks set a career-high with 54 assists, eclipsing her previous high of 42, while freshman Lanier Leonard (13 kills) and Savannah Combs (26 digs) each had career-best performances.

Karlee Moss led the Golden Tigers with 24 kills and 10 digs, while Haley Ponder (12 kills and 10 digs) and Nicole Ighile (11 kills) also had strong performances in the win.

Brenau (7-17 overall, 6-6 AAC) next travels to face Tennessee Wesleyan College (6-18 overall, 2-12 AAC) on Saturday at 11 am.