--- Tusculum's Caitlyn Dean became the NCAA Division II's all-time digs leader as the Pioneers fended off a late rally in TC's five-set win over host Coker College Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action.

The Pioneers (20-9, 15-7 SAC) won the match by scores of 25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 23-25, 15-10 to complete the season-sweep over the Cobras (3-27, 0-22 SAC).

Dean finished the match with 24 digs, giving her 3,114 for her stellar career, breaking the NCAA II record of 3,107 set by Tiffin University's Holly Morgan (2003-06).

Tusculum claims sole possession of second place in the league and earns the Pioneers the No. 2 seed in next week's Food Lion South Atlantic conference Tournament, which will be hosted by Newberry College, Nov. 22-24. Tusculum will open tournament play on Friday with a 5 p.m. quarterfinal against seventh-seeded Mars Hill University.

Megan Hasse led Tusculum with 14 kills and four service aces, while Kassie Voelker and Danae Stauffer finished with 13 kills each. The setter duo of Hannah Berling and Ashley Sarmiento finished the match with 24 and 20 assists, respectively.

The two teams combined for 26 service aces in the contest. Coker tallied 14 aces, including four by Mindy Morris, while Taylor Willis and Cassandra Nagel tallied three apiece. TC accounted for a dozen aces, including Hasse's four and three each by Dean and freshman Courtney McDevitt. Willis added 15 kills, 11 digs and three blocks for Coker, while Nagel tallied 11 kills and four blocks. Morris posted a match-high 33 digs for the Cobras.

Tusculum jumped out to a two-set lead winning the first two frames by identical 25-19 scores. Coker answered with wins in the next two sets, 25-20 and 25-23 to send the match to a deciding frame.

The Cobras were primed for the upset, taking a 10-6 lead in the fifth. But the Pioneers closed out the match with a 9-0 spurt, sparked by four Hasse kills during the TC run to win the set 15-10.

Tusculum improves its record to 9-3 in five-set matches this season.