MARS HILL, N.C. --- Lorena Maia recorded
15 kills to lead fifth-seeded Newberry to a 3-1 win over No. 4 seed
Tusculum Thursday afternoon in a quarterfinal match of the 2008
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament. The
tournament is being held at Stanford Arena on the campus of Mars
Hill College. Newberry won the match by scores of 27-25, 25-23,
22-25 and 27-25.
Newberry improves to 18-12 and will face top-seeded Wingate on
Friday at 1 p.m. Tusculum drops to 22-11 and will learn their
postseason fate later this weekend when the NCAA Division II
Tournament field is announced.
In the first set, Newberry jumped out to a 7-3 lead after a kill
by Maia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil). TC stormed back and took a
one-point (16-15) advantage after a service ace by two-time All-SAC
First Team honoree Katie Luebke (Bellefontaine,
Ohio). The teams traded points until the match was tied at 25-25. A
kill and a block by Kara Harris (Grandview, Texas)
ended the set at 27-25.
In the second set, Newberry again came out of the gates with an
early 9-2 lead after a block by Dani Hroblak (Lake
Wylie, S.C.). The Pioneers cut the lead to a single point (21-20)
when SAC All-Freshman honoree Carly Swisher (Fort
Collins, Colo.) put an attack away but that was as close as TC
would get as Newberry led wire-to-wire.
The Pioneers rallied back in capturing the third set. A service
ace by Gina Coffaro put the Pioneers up 5-1. Newberry fought back
taking a 10-9 lead on a kill from Priscila Sales
(Belo Horizonte, Brazil). Newberry then took a 14-9 lead before TC
made a rally to take the lead for good (22-21) on a service ace by
Heather MacArthur (Salt Lake, Utah).
Kelsey Hayden (Colorado Springs, Colo.) recorded
the final point as TC won the third frame, 25-22.
The fourth set was a nail biter as neither team enjoyed more than
a three-point advantage. The lead changed hands nine times before
Newberry took the lead for good. With the score tied 25-25, Sales
had a successful attack and then a TC attack error gave Newberry
the set and the win (27-25).
Maia and Sales led Newberry's offense with 15 and 13 kills in the
contest, respectively. Brianna Blakely (Houston,
Texas) supplied 40 assists to the hitters while Nadia
Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) tallied 24 digs and
Harris added 20 digs in the win.
Swisher and Luebke led the Pioneers offense with 17 and 16 kills
in the loss, respectively. SAC All-Freshman setter Peyton
Colclough (Manassas, Va.) recorded 37 assists while
Erika Garcia led Tusculum's defense with 19 digs.
Coffaro had seven kills and 18 digs in the loss.
- SAC -