TIGERVILLE, S.C. — Mercy Bell recorded her fourth career hat trick to break UNCP Hall of Famer Melanie Cobb’s school record after Maria Cancio put the UNCP soccer team ahead in the fourth minute and the Braves cruised to a 7-0 win at North Greenville Saturday.

Anna Grossheim tallied a two-goal game to go along with an assist, while Shakira Kafero Roberts added the other goal for the Black & Gold. Key’Patra Morgan added two assists, while Eugenie Amidou, Kafero Roberts, and Bell added one apiece.

The Braves (1-2-0, 1-0-0 CC) improved to 6-0-0 in the all-time series against the Crusaders (0-3-1, 0-1-0 CC).

Key’Patra Morgan lofted a ball over the NGU defense to find Maria Cancio, who headed it home off the bounce and finished through a collision with the Trailblazer goalkeeper to open the scoring for UNCP.

Grossheim’s ninth-minute throw in found Bell, who then fired a perfect strike side-net to get her hat trick started and put the Braves up 2-0.

After nearly 50 minutes without a goal, Bell saved a ball at the edge of the goal line and played a perfect centering pass to the foot of Shakira Kafero Roberts, who one-touched it home from just outside the six-yard box to make it 3-0 in the 57th minute.

Three minutes later, Kafero Roberts found Bell on a throw in, who made a move to get around her defender and fired a left-footed strike past the keeper from eight yards out for her second goal to make it 4-0.

Grossheim took a 69th-minute pass from Eugenie Amidou and made a move to get free and scored from just inside the six-yard box to make it 5-0.

Morgan added her second assist of the day with a perfect ball to the left foot of Bell, who put it home from 10 yards out to complete her record-breaking hat trick in the 71st minute for a 6-0 advantage.

Maya McDonald’s 73rd-minute cross found Grossheim, who made a dazzling move to get free for a shot, and fired a left-footed blast into the back of the net to tack on the extra point and make it 7-0.

Bell led the way with a career-high 11 shots, and tied a career-high with six shots on goal.

Morgan recorded her first and second career assists. Piper Hill made her collegiate debut in the second half and tallied two saves to pick up the combined clean sheet with Anna Bass.

UNCP tallied 32 shots, with 16 on target, and limited NGU to just six total and three on goal. The Braves earned 10 corner kicks, while the Trailblazers took just three.

UNCP will continue Conference Carolinas play Wednesday as they host Francis Marion for Youth Day and the Battle of I-95. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at LREMC Stadium.

UNCP volleyball falls to Alaska Anchorage, Fairbanks at Denali State Ice Block Classic

Alaska Anchorage was firing on all cylinders hitting .364 from the net and tallying 11 service aces and six blocks to defeat the UNC Pembroke volleyball team 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-11) on Saturday during the Denali State Ice Block Classic, played in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Braves wrapped up the weekend action against host Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday evening where the Nanooks took down the Braves 3-1 (25-13, 22-25, 25-15, 25-14). Alaska Fairbanks finished the match with 14 service aces and nine blocks, where UNCP had seven blocks but committed 22 errors.

In the first set against Alaska Anchorage (6-4), the Seawolves scored the first six points of the match, and would take a 14-4 lead with a kill from Katie Birtcil. Alaska Anchorage hit a match-high .395 from the net and would push their lead out to 23-9 with a Kadyn Osborne kill. UNCP (2-4) fended off two set points, but Larssen Anderson’s kill ended the set at 25-12.

UAA took an early 8-4 lead in the second set, but the Braves went on a 4-0 run and used a kill from Katelyn West to tie the score at 8-8. Alaska Anchorage stopped the UNCP surge and went on a 7-0 run to lead 15-8. A Katelynn Swain kill cut the UNC Pembroke deficit back to 16-10, but the Seawolves closed out the set on a 9-6 run to win 25-16.

UAA scored the first seven points of the set and took an 11-2 lead following a block from Leilani Elder and Tia Allen. The Braves worked their deficit back to 13-7 with a kill from Abby Peduzzi, but Alaska Anchorage ran the score out to 18-7 with a five-point surge and clinched the match with a 25-11 win.

Mckenna hayes had nine kills for the Braves, Peduzzi had eight kills, Swain had four kills, Tyler Patterson had 20 assists and six digs, Anaya Carter had eight digs, Savannah Whaley had seven and Brette Doile had two aces and three assists.

In the Braves’ tournament finale against Alaska Fairbanks (8-2), the Nanooks hit a match-high .360 from the net in the opening set and took a 14-4 lead via blocks from Josie Jansen and Rilee White. UNCP chipped away at its deficit, 18-10 with a kill from Swain, but UNCP was limited to just five kills in the opening set as the hosts won seven out of the final 10 points to take the set 25-13.

UNCP hit .190 from the net in the second set and used a kill from Abby Peduzzi to lead 18-13. The Nanooks scored six straight points to knot the score at 19, but the Braves took the lead for good, 20-19, via a kill from Mckenna Hayes, and won the set 25-22 to even the match at 1-1.

Alaska Fairbanks put together a 12-1 third-set run to take a commanding 18-6 lead, but Ruby Countryman ended the surge with a kill. The Braves scored four straight points to cut their deficit back to 22-14, but the hosts won three of the final four points in the set and won 25-15 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

UNC Pembroke took an early 3-1 lead in the fourth set, but Alaska Fairbanks capitalized on a 7-0 surge to take an 11-5 advantage. Peduzzi’s kill worked the UNCP deficit back to 15-10, but UAF closed out the set on a 10-4 scoring run to claim the set 25-14 and win the match.

Peduzzi had 16 kills in the nightcap, Precious Daley had nine kills with three blocks, Countryman had four kills and five blocks, Patterson had 24 assists and six digs, Karagyn Durco had four assists and 14 digs, Doile had four assists and two aces and Hayes had 10 digs.

The Braves will begin Conference Carolinas play on Wednesday when they travel to Tigerville, S.C. to take on North Greenville. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside Hayes Gymnasium.