SALISBURY, N.C. - Catawba College won its sixth straight match defeating visiting Newberry in three games in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Friday night at Goodman Gym. The Newberry Lady Indians fell by the scores of 35-33, 30-22 and 30-18 and drop to 2-18 overall and 1-7 in the SAC.  The Catawba Indians fall to 11-8 and 6-2.

Catawba rallied to win the opening game after trailing nearly the entire way. Newberry used an early 9-1 run to grab a 10-4 edge.  Newberry would extend the lead to 16-9 on an ace by junior Cara Coleman and held a 27-22 lead following a kill by senior Jessica Lipsi. Freshman hitter Lorena Maia killed a point to give Newberry a 29-26 lead, but Catawba scored the next four.
 
After a service error, Bennet, N.C. native Melissa Powers and Amanda Nantz combined for a block and Powers followed with a kill to tie the game at 29-29. A kill from junior Laurie Barman staved off a game point and the teams traded kills over the next seven points until an attack error on Newberry gave Catawba the winning point.
 
Catawba took control of the second game with a pair of runs after trailing 8-9.  Andi Henderson served six points, including an ace, while Missy Bartholomew  added another four in a 13-2 run that pushed the Catawba lead to 20-11.  Powers had six kills to lead Catawba in game two, while Maia had five kills for Newberry.  Henderson and Mai Zoua Lo served Catawba to a 14-2 lead in the deciding third game.  Lo scored the bulk of the point with 10 straight before an error and Newberry never got closer than nine points after that. 
 
Powers had 15 kills to lead Catawba, while Melissa Griffith had 14 kills and four blocks.  Maia had a dozen kills and 13 digs for Newberry with Barman following with 11 kills and a pair of blocks.

Freshman Kilee Ruppe finished the evening with 20 assists and senior Jessica Lopez complemented Ruppe with 13. Lopez also led the team in digs with 15. Cara Coleman had two solo blocks and two block assists to go along with eight kills.

Thanks to the Catawba Sports Information for the assistance with this article.