ELON, N.C. – Gardner-Webb had two players with double-doubles, but fell to Evansville in a hard-fought five-set effort on Saturday morning at the 2018 Phoenix Classic hosted by Elon University.
 
Gardner-Webb (3-2) took the first set by a score of 25-17, but Evansville (4-2) bounced back to take the second set, 25-21.  GWU claimed set three, 27-25, but Evansville took the fourth set by the same score, and would win the decisive fifth set by a score of 15-11.
 
"This was a highly competitive match between two evenly matched teams," said GWU head coach Leo Sayles.  "Both teams had great comeback efforts in sets three and four.  We missed our opportunity to put away set four, but will grow from this loss.  Kylee Garrison had another strong effort and Charissa Coleman gave us a solid defensive effort."
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs had 53 kills on the day, attacking at a .110 rate, while the Aces had 63 kills with a .184 attacking percentage.
 
Kylee Garrison led the Gardner-Webb attach with 16 kills on 39 swings, attacking at a .256 percentage.  Hannah Lancaster also had double-digit kills with 10 smashes on 43 attempts, and also added 12 digs to post a double-double.
 
Amanda Sahm led GWU in digs at 21 and had 18 assists for a double-double.  Madi Riggs a team-high 21 assists and Hannah Donaldson led the block with two solo blocks and four block assists.
 
Evansville was led on the attack by Mildrelis Rodriguez, who collected 20 kills on 62 swings for an attack percentage of .194.  Olivia Goldstein led the Aces with 24 digs, while Cecilia Thon had 30 assists and both Kerra Cornist and Rocio Fortuny collected four block assists to lead that effort.
 
Gardner-Webb returns to action later this evening, taking on tournament host Elon to wrap up the 2018 Phoenix Classic.