In the first day of the Wingate Volleyball Tournament, Queens University of Charlotte fell to UNC-Pembroke in three games on Friday night in Wingate, N.C., at Cuddy Arena. The Braves defeated the Royals by scores of 25-20, 25-16 and 25-23.

The Royals were close to changing the momentum of the night in game three as they were tied at 21 with UNCP. The Royals fought back from a four point deficit to tie the game at 15 and never the Braves get more than two points away. Strong play at the net by Tanisha Lea (Efland, N.C., Orange Senior )and Keatin McKenzie (Coral Springs, Fla., Cardinal Gibbons )kept Queens in reach of the Braves.

A few attack errors by the Royals and well-timed kills from UNCP gave the Braves the third game and the match win.

On the night, McKenzie led the Royals offense with 12 kills from 33 swings and recorded just six errors. Lea recorded four kills on 10 attempts and setterAmanda Valbert (Champaign, Ill., Champaign Central ) had 16 assists. Both Lea and McKenzie each had three serve aces as well.

Veronica Arenander (Cincinnati, Ohio, Walnut Hill ) had three block assists to lead Queens on the defensive side of play. Queens notched 36 digs in the match and Katherine Bagley (Hammondsport, N.Y., H.P. Central )had eight, the team high.

Rachel Young recorded nine kills for UNCP and Whitney Halin set 28 balls.

Queens faces host institution Wingate at 10am Saturday morning.