WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Carolina University Women's Volleyball bounced back on the second day of the Carolina Classic on Saturday, August 22, splitting a pair of matches inside Williams Gymnasium.
Originally scheduled as the Milligan Mountain Madness, the event was moved to Carolina University and became the Carolina Classic. After dropping both matches on Friday, the Bruins entered Day Two looking to turn things around.
Carolina did just that in its opening match Saturday, defeating Spartanburg Methodist College in four sets to earn its first victory of the 2026 season. The Bruins then closed the event against Blue Mountain Christian University, falling in three sets to finish the weekend with a 1-3 overall record.
Game 1: Carolina 3, Spartanburg Methodist 1
Carolina opened Saturday's action at noon against Spartanburg Methodist, with both teams searching for their first victory of the season. The Bruins came away with the win, defeating the Pioneers 25-20, 18-25, 25-11 and 27-25.
The Bruins started quickly, taking the opening set 25-20 before Spartanburg Methodist responded with a 25-18 victory in the second. Carolina produced its strongest offensive set of the match in the third, recording 17 kills with just two attacking errors on 34 attempts for a .441 hitting percentage on its way to a commanding 25-11 win.
The fourth set proved to be the most competitive of the match, featuring 14 ties and five lead changes. Carolina was able to finish off the Pioneers 27-25 to secure the four-set victory.
SarahElizabeth Samuels led the Carolina attack with 14 kills, while Britney Comolli and Madison Kilgore each added nine. Syvannah Poore turned in an efficient performance with six kills and no errors on 10 attempts for a .600 hitting percentage while also contributing 19 assists and 13 digs.
Natalia Cano added 16 assists and three service aces, while Valeria Suarez finished with eight assists and two aces. Defensively, Charlee Hale led the Bruins with 18 digs, followed by Madison Kilgore with 14 and Syvannah Poore with 13.
As a team, Carolina totaled 52 kills, 48 assists, eight service aces and 69 digs while hitting .200 for the match.
The victory improved the Bruins to 1-2 on the season.
Game 2: Blue Mountain Christian 3, Carolina 0
Carolina returned to the court for its final match of the Carolina Classic against Blue Mountain Christian University. The Toppers earned the three-set victory, defeating the Bruins 25-15, 25-18 and 25-18.
The Bruins struggled to find their offensive rhythm early, finishing the opening set with nine kills and 13 errors. Carolina improved throughout the match, hitting .051 in the second set before producing its best offensive performance in the third with 12 kills and five errors on 38 attempts for a .184 hitting percentage.
Britney Comolli led Carolina with six kills, while Madison Kilgore and Rileigh Franklin each recorded five. SarahElizabeth Samuels contributed four kills, and Corinne Cutter and Kennedy Dobard added three apiece.
Natalia Cano handed out a team-high 14 assists, with Syvannah Poore adding 12 assists. Madison Kilgore recorded two of Carolina's four service aces and also finished with 11 digs.
Charlee Hale anchored the Bruins defensively with a match-high 27 digs, while Valeria Suarez added 14. Carolina finished the contest with 29 kills, 29 assists, four service aces and 67 digs.
The loss moved Carolina to 1-3 overall following the opening weekend of the 2026 season.
Head Coach Chelsea Jones: "I was proud of the way our team responded after a tough first day. We came out with great energy against Spartanburg Methodist and found a way to earn our first win of the season. There are still areas where we need to improve, and the second match showed us that, but this weekend gave us an opportunity to learn a lot about ourselves. We have a lot of new pieces coming together, and we will continue to work, grow and get better each time we step on the court."
