GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Newberry College volleyball team rallied from a set down and a seven-point deficit in the fourth frame as the Wolves held on for a 3-2 South Atlantic Conference win at Tusculum College Friday night at Pioneer Arena.

Newberry (16-10, 11-8 SAC) won the match by scores of 22-25, 25-19, 19-25, 27-25, 15-13 as the Wolves complete the season sweep over the Pioneers (17-8, 12-6 SAC) while also ending Tusculum's five-match winning streak and putting a damper on TC's Senior Night.

The contest was a defensive battle between two regionally ranked programs as the Pioneers and Wolves combined for 249 digs, 23 blocks and forcing 69 total attack errors.

Tusculum entered tonight's contest ranked fourth in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region poll, while Newberry was fifth.

Newberry's Samantha Parrish led the charge with seven kills, four blocks and 34 digs as five NBY players recorded double-digit tallies in digs. The Wolves finished with 126 digs on the evening. Elayni Stokes accounted for 42 digs, while Lisa Ross posted 13. Chelsea Mayor finished with 11 digs and 25 assists, while Rachel Moran recorded 11 digs and 16 assists in the victory.

Tusculum senior Caitlyn Dean led all players with a season-high 45 digs, which are tied for the third most in school history in a five-set match (Dean holds the five-set record of 49 vs. Lincoln Memorial in 2011).

Dean established a milestone, becoming the third player in NCAA Division II history to eclipse 3,000 digs in a career. She takes over sole possession of second place on the DII digs list with 3,039, surpassing Katie Tarka of the University of Central Missouri (3,016 digs from 2003-06).

Dean, who recorded 40 digs in a match for a ninth time in her career, is now just 68 digs away from the NCAA II record of 3,107 digs held by Holly Morgan of Tiffin University.

TC senior setter Ashley Sarmiento dished out 27 assists to go along with her 20 digs and four kills. Senior middle blocker Kassie Voelker tallied a dozen kills, four digs and three blocks, while sophomore Danae Stauffer accounted for a match-high 13 kills and seven digs. Freshman Rachel Garnett finished with 11 kills and three blocks, while junior Megan Hasse added 10 kills, 24 digs and three service aces to give her 100 for her career, becoming only the ninth player in program history to eclipse the century mark in aces.

Tusculum tallied a .312 hitting percentage in the opening set, while scoring the final three points of the frame to win 25-22. TC bolted out to an 11-3 advantage and led 18-11 following a Voelker kill. Newberry answered with an 11-4 spurt to tie the score at 2-22 following a Mayor kill. After a TC timeout, Voelker tallied a pair of kills, including her fifth of the frame on set-point.

Newberry used a 13-2 spurt that included six straight points as the Wolves roared to a 25-19 win the second set to tie the match at 1-1. Newberry recorded four blocks in the set, while Stokes added 10 digs in the frame.

The Pioneers used a 10-2 run to close out the third set as Tusculum prevailed 25-19 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Hasse provided six kills and seven digs, while junior Victoria Ashley added four kills and a block to spark the TC efforts.

In the fourth set, Tusculum had the momentum early scoring the first four points of the frame and would lead by as many as 13-6 following a NBY attack error. The Wolves called a timeout and followed with five straight points to trim the deficit to 13-11 following an Alexus Horton kill and a solo block by Logan Hayward. Tusculum would lead 19-17 later in the frame until Newberry went on a 4-0 run to take a 21-19 lead. TC followed with a kill and an ace by Hasse to tie the score at 21-21, but Newberry would respond with two points in a row to move back to a two-set advantage (23-21). TC got a kill from Garnett and a solo block from freshman Jaida Allen to tie the score at 23-23. Tusculum would fight off set-point two more times down the stretch. But with the score tie at 25-25, Mayor gave Newberry the lead for good with a kill and Parrish finished off the rally with a kill on set-point to win 27-25 and send the match to a deciding frame.

The Wolves scored the first five points on Mayor's serve, thanks to three Tusculum errors. The Pioneers would not go away as the home team clawed its way back into the fray. Trailing 8-5, Tusculum went on a 6-2 run to take its first lead of the final set on an Ashley kill.

Parrish and Jessica King combined on a block to tie the set at 11-1 and Horton followed with a solo block as the Wolves regained the advantage at 12-11. TC tied the score at 12-12, but the Wolves picked up a pair of huge points on a Amanda Soper kill and a Tusculum attack error to get to match point (14-12). TC fought off one match point, but Holly Brisson closed out the victory with a kill to claim the frame, 15-13.

Tusculum returns to action Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. to take on Anderson University (13-11, 12-6 SAC) in a battle for sole possession of second place in the South Atlantic Conference.

- TC -