GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Gina Coffaro recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 24 digs to lead the Tusculum College volleyball team to a 3-1 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Lenoir-Rhyne University Friday night at Pioneer Arena.
The Pioneers (16-11, 7-6 SAC) won the match by scores of 25-22, 25-19, 18-25 and 25-21 to complete the season sweep over the Bears (17-11, 3-8 SAC).
Coffaro had a solid performance on the attack as she posted a .395 hitting percentage (18-3-38), while accounting for 19.5 points on the night for the Pioneers. Tusculum rookie Sam Underwood led Tusculum's hitting efforts with her .438 hitting percentage (16-2-32) to along with her double-double of 16 kills and a dozen digs. She also posted a pair of blocks and four assists.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Lindsey Cantu finished with 15 kills, 17 digs and a match-high five service aces. Chelsea Hill tallied 12 kills, while Marrissa Church led all players with 25 digs.
In the first set, the lead changed hands four times and the score was tied on 11 occasions, including the final time in the frame at 19-19. TC used a 5-1 run, including four points on the serve of setter Peyton Colclough to move ahead 24-20, including a Coffaro kill to move the Pioneers to set-point. Brooke Christenbury and Hill posted consecutive kills, by Underwood closed out the set with a kill as TC won 25-22.
Tusculum jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the second set, including four service points by Coffaro and blocks by Alyssa Raterman and Bailee Price. The Bears responded with a 7-3 run, including three kills and a block assist by Cantu to pull within 11-10. TC rolled out to a 6-1 spurt thanks to back-to-back kills by Price as the Pioneer upped its advantage to 17-11 en route to a 25-19 win.
TC looked to carry that momentum into the third set as the home team led 5-1. But L-R fought back and utilized runs of 7-2 and 9-4 to move out to a 17-11 lead, capped off by a pair of Cantu aces and a kill by Kassi Henry as the Bears won the set 25-18.
Like the first set, the fourth frame was a close contest that included nine ties and four lead changes. With the score knotted at 8-8, Tusculum scored six straight points, including five on Colclough's serve to give the Pioneers a 14-8 advantage. Lenoir-Rhyne answered with 9-4 spurt to tie the set at 19-19 following a Christenbury kill.
The Pioneers responded with a flurry closing out the match with a 6-2 run that including three kills by Coffaro, including a spike on match-point to win 25-21.
Colclough finished with 49 assists and nine digs for Tusculum, while L-R's Meredith Lutz added 47 assists, nine digs and three blocks.
Friday was also "Dig for the Cure" Night as the teams were raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research. The two teams combined for 164 digs on the evening.
Tusculum hosts Newberry College on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m., while the Bears will host nationally-ranked Wingate University on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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