GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum College volleyball team withstood a furious comeback from Mars Hill University that saw the Lions rally from a 2-0 deficit but fall to the Pioneers 3-2 on Tuesday night in South Atlantic Conference action inside Pioneer Arena. Megan Hasse and Laryssa Welch accounted for nearly half of Tusculum's kills.
TC (15-13, 14-6 South Atlantic Conference) won the first set 25-23 before taking the second 25-15. Mars Hill (9-18, 8-12) began its comeback by winning the third set 26-24 and forced the decisive fifth set by winning the fourth 30-28. The Pioneers won the match with a 15-7 fifth-set-victory.
Hasse and Welch each tallied 17 kills apiece, while sophomore outside hitter Rachel Garnett chipped-in 12. Four Pioneers compiled double-figure digs with sophomore libero Moriah Jones leading the way with a match-high 24.
Freshman outside hitter Sabrina Schleuger racked-up 18 digs to go with 7 kills, and freshman setter Shannon Murphy had 15 to go with a match-high 39 assists that garnered her eighth double-double of the season. Junior setter Hannah Berling dished out 22 assists.
After the Pioneers took the first two sets, Mars Hill rallied from a 22-13 deficit in the third with the help of an 11-0 run to earn an improbable two point third-set victory. The Pioneers held a 23-16 late in the fourth set, but just like in the third, the Lions came back and used an 8-0 run to take a 24-23 lead. Later in the set, after a bevy of extra points, MHU earned another improbable set victory to force the decisive fifth game.
With the fifth set tied at 4-4, TC reeled of five-straight points off the service of Berling to jump out to a 9-4 lead. MHU setter Sara Fahrenbrook broke the run with a kill, and an attack error by Schleuger cut the Pioneer lead to 9-6. However, Tusculum earned the next two points off a Lion attack error and a kill by Schleuger to take an 11-6 lead.
A Jones attack error gave Mars Hill a side-out and put the score at 11-7, but a quick kill by Garnett gave Tusculum a side-out of its own and a five-point lead. With the score at 12-7, TC recorded-back-to-back blocks by Welch, Schleuger, and junior outside hitter Danae Stauffer to earn match point with the score at 14-7. Schleuger closed out the match with an emphatic kill that gave the Pioneers their fifth-straight victory.
Mars Hill had four players with double-figure kills led by Rebecca Butler who had 16. Lauren Hochstetler and Mary Kate Griffin each recorded 13 kills, and Devon Felts added 10. Andie Russell dished out a team-high 29 assists while Butler finished with a team-high 24 digs.
The Pioneers hit a sizzling .425 in the first set and held off a late Lion rally to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Trailing 10-8 early, TC answered with a 6-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. Later in the set, MHU erased a 20-16 deficit with a 5-2 run to cut the Pioneer lead to 22-21.
Tusculum responded with back-to-back kills by Welch and sophomore middle blocker Jaida Allen to earn set-point leading 24-21. But the pesky Lions used back-to-back kills by Hochstetler and Felts to make the score 24-23 and force a TC timeout. After the break, Welch slammed home a huge kill to earn the Pioneers the first-set victory.
In the second set, TC used a pair of 4-0 runs early to take a 12-7 advantage. Later in the set, the Pioneers held 19-13 lead, and closed out the frame with a 7-2 run to cruise to the 10-point second-set victory. Tusculum benefitted from 12 Lion attack errors in the set.
The Pioneers will close out the regular season with a pair of matches at Chuckey-Doak High School, just a few miles away from the Tusculum Campus in Afton, Tennessee. TC will play Coker College on Friday night (Nov. 7) at 7 p.m., and will honor its two seniors Hasse and Taylor Boone after the match. Tusculum will close out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 7 against Wingate at 2 p.m.
