HICKORY, N.C. --- Three Pioneers tallied double-digit kills to help lead Tusculum College to a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Saturday afternoon in Hickory, North Carolina. Freshman Laryssa Welch led all players with 16 kills.

Tusculum (14-13, 13-6 SAC) dropped the first set to the Bears 25-17 before winning the second set 25-23. Lenoir-Rhyne (19-8, 13-7) took the third set by the same 25-17 score, but TC rallied to force a winner-take-all final set by winning the fourth 25-15. The Pioneers won the match by taking the fifth set 15-13.

Senior outside hitter Megan Hasse earned a double-double after finishing with 14 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Garnett chipped-in 13 kills, and freshman setter Shannon Murphy also had a double-double with 43 assists and 12 digs. Welch added four digs and three blocks while hitting a sizzling .393 for the match.

In the fifth set, the Bears jumped out to a 5-3 lead early, but TC responded with a quick 3-0 spurt to jump ahead 6-5. L-R answered with three-straight points of their own, and later held a 9-7 lead. The resilient Pioneers once again fought back, and used a 4-1 run to take an 11-10 advantage and force a Bear timeout. Freshman outside hitter Sabrina Schleuger had a pair of kills in the run.

After the break, the Bears got the next two points and re-took the lead at 12-11. The Pioneers benefitted from an attack error by Lenoir-Rhyne's Brooke Redman that tied the match at 12-12. However, Hasse committed an attack error of her own in the next rally that gave the lead back to the Bears and forced a Pioneer timeout.

With the L-R lead at 13-12, Welch recorded a massive kill to tie the match at 13-13. In the next rally, Garnett tallied a kill to set the score at 14-13 and give TC match point. Facing extra points if the Bears got a score, Garnett recorded one final kill to earn Tusculum the two point fifth-set victory and the match win.

Sophomore libero Moriah Jones had a match-high 31 digs, while Schleuger dug-up 26 and added seven kills. Junior middle blocker Danae Stauffer and sophomore defensive specialist Andrea Amettis each had seven digs apiece, while Stauffer also recorded seven kills.

With the Bears holding a 2-1 lead in the match, the Pioneers erased an early three point deficit in the fourth set with a 9-0 run that earned them a 13-8 lead. After the Bears use three-straight points to cut the lead to 13-11, TC reeled off four-straight points off the service of Stauffer to take a 17-11 advantage. The Pioneers closed out the set with another 4-0 run and sent the game to the decisive fifth set.

Lenoir-Rhyne was led offensively by Redmond, Brandi Thomas, and Ashley Wells who all tallied 11 kills each. Briana Gottberg dished out a match-high 51 assists to go with 17 digs for a double-double. Redmond and Thomas also notched double-doubles after tallying double-figure digs.

After the Bears won the first set by eight, TC held a narrow 22-19 lead late in the second. L-R reeled off back-to-back kills to cut the lead to just 22-21 and force the Pioneers to call a timeout. Out of the break, Murphy recorded a kill but a TC attack error in the next rally cut the lead back to one.

The teams traded points one more time, which set the score at 24-23 in favor of Tusculum. Stauffer responded with a final kill in the set to give TC the 25-23 second-set victory and tie the match at 1-1.

With the win, Tusculum posted a perfect 4-0 roadtrip and will close out the regular-season with three matches at home starting on Tuesday (Nov. 4) against Mars Hill at 7 p.m.