GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum College outlasted Mars Hill University 3-2 in a South Atlantic Conference volleyball match Tuesday night at Pioneer Arena. Set scores were 25-19, 11-25, 25-21, 17-25 and 15-13.
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Garnett's kill on match point (VIDEO)
In a back-and-forth match that featured 18 ties and seven lead changes, the Pioneers (4-2, 1-1 SAC) scored three of the final four points in the decisive fifth set to put away the Lions (1-4, 1-1 SAC) in their home opener.
Five players finished in double figures in kills for Tusculum, led by Rachel Garnett with 13. Rebecca Butler and Lauren Hochstetler paced Mars Hill with 15 kills apiece in the match. Joining Garnett in double figures for the Pioneers were Laryssa Welch with 11 kills, and Mariah Lewis, Cassie Born and Sarah Bouley with 10 kills each. Melissa Mazur had a match-high 33 digs for the Pioneers, who also received 36 assists from Shannon Murphy and 14 from Hallie Zumack.
Sally Anne Johnson had 14 kills for the Lions, while Mary Kate Griffin also reached double figures with 11 kills on the evening. Sara Fahrenbrook dished out a match-high 49 assists for Mars Hill, while Victoria Kaiser had 25 digs and Hochstetler added 20 in the loss for the Lions.
The Pioneers never trailed in the opening set, coming away with a 25-19 victory. Garnett led the Pioneers with six kills in 10 attacks as Tusculum hit .302 in the set as a team. Mazur had 12 digs in the first set for the Pioneers, who limited the Lions to a .150 hitting percentage as a team.
Set two was all Mars Hill as the Lions roared out to a 15-3 lead on their way to a 25-11 set win. Butler finished with five kills for the Lions, while Kaiser had three aces and five digs. Bouley led the Pioneers with three of their five kills in the set.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle that included six ties and two lead changes. The Pioneers trailed 15-11 after a kill by the Lions' Hochstetler, but Born came up with a kill and then served five straight points as the Pioneers regained the lead at 17-15. A Griffin kill tied the set at 19-19, but two straight kills by Welch and back-to-back aces by Bouley gave the Pioneers momentum to take the set 25-21 and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Looking to finish off the Lions in four sets, the Pioneers grabbed a 16-13 lead as Zumack had consecutive aces and Lewis followed with a kill. However, a kill by Johnson turned the service back over to the Lions, and Kaiser served 10 straight points as Mars Hill jumped to a 24-16 lead and eventually evened the match at 2-2 with a 25-17 set win.
In the decisive fifth set, the Pioneers scored the first three points and went on top 7-2 following an ace by Megan Yopko. Mars Hill would not go down without a fight, and three straight aces from Hochstetler gave the Lions a 9-8 advantage. Kills by Born would tie the score at 9-9 and 10-10, then back-to-back kills from the Lions' Johnson would level the score at 12-12.
Born would score the most important kill of the match without even attempting an attack, as her overpass on a service caught the Lions' front line unaware and fell in for a 13-12 Pioneer lead. A kill by Garnett pushed the lead to 14-12, but Johnson kept the match alive for Mars Hill on match point. The final point of the night came on a kill from Garnett, giving the Pioneers the hard-fought 15-13 set victory and the match.
Mars Hill finished with 59 kills as a team and hit .262 in the match, while the Pioneers also had 59 kills and hit .231 as a team. The Lions had 13 service aces, including five from Hochstelter and three each from Kaiser and Griffin, while Tusculum finished with seven aces as a team. Mars Hill had a 7-5 edge in blocks, with the Pioneers' Welch having a match-high three rejections.
Tusculum will return to action on Friday at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Arena against Brevard in a SAC contest.
