NEWBERRY, S.C. - Newberry College broke into the conference win column with a 30-26, (23-30), 30-26, 30-17 victory over the Tusculum Pioneers in South Atlantic Conference action Friday night at Eleazer Arena.  Four Indians had double-digit kills, and four had double-digit digs in the winning effort.

After a close first game where neither team led by more than four points, the teams battled closely until Tusculum (6-9, 0-5 SAC) closed the game with a 7-2 run.  Newberry (6-7, 1-4 SAC) recharged in the middle of game three, scoring four consecutive points to lead 17-12.  The Pioneers battled back to trail 21-18, but five consecutive Scarlet points, three by freshman Cara Coleman (Allentown, Pa.), gave Newberry the cushion on the way to victory.

The Indians came to play in the final set, jumping on Tusculum 12-4 before a Pioneer timeout was called.  The visitors would close the gap to 17-10, but Newberry used another spurt to gain a 13-point edge at 25-12, the margin by which it would win.

Junior Kristin Pulone led all players with a career-high 16 kills, and was best among Indians with a .314 hitting percentage.  Sophomores Jessica Lipsi (Columbia, S.C.) and Katie Stone (Greenville, S.C.) notched 15 and 12 kills, respectively.  Setter/hitter Jessica Lopez (Madison, Wisc.) had a season-high 11 kills.  Coleman had a hand in a game-high five blocks to accompany nine kills.  Junior Alicia Khoury (Toledo, Ohio) assisted 53 kills and collected 13 digs on the evening.

For the Pioneers, Carrie Miller (Johnson City, Tenn.) forged the way with 15 kills, followed by Shawna Voigt�s (Dayton, Minn.) 13 kills.  Sarah King (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Brittany Driggers (Lexington, S.C.) each topped the 20-dig mark with 26 and 21, respectively.  Driggers had 44 assists and seven kills to go along with her stellar defense.

Tusculum takes the 20-mile trail to Presbyterian College for a Saturday afternoon contest, while Newberry hosts Carson-Newman at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.