TIGERVILLE, S.C. - Five set matches have been something that the Newberry Wolves haven't particularly enjoyed during the 2010 season. Thanks in large part to Sarah Scott (Redding, Calif.) Newberry was finally able to come away victorious in one.

Newberry took a 25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12 decision from the North Greenville Crusaders to improve their overall record to 13-10. The Wolves hit .236 through the course of the five-set marathon match.

“I was proud of the way we fought in the fifth set tonight,” said head coach David Nicholson. “It has really been a struggle for our team to come out and play set number five but tonight we put it together and we were able to get out of there with a win.”

The Wolves would open up the match on a 4-0 run but the host Crusaders matched that with a run of their own. North Greenville would pull ahead 8-6 before the Wolves went on a 4-1 run. The four points consisted of three Crusader attack errors and a kill from Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.). The Wolves would not trail in the set again and a pair of Crusader errors at the end of the match would give the Wolves a 1-0 lead.

The hosts bounced back in set two though. Through the opening minutes of the set the two squads played their way through three ties before the Crusaders took a 7-5 lead. The Wolves battled back to tie things up at ten and the squads would see five lead changes and eight ties through the next 16 points.

With the score sitting at 18-all the Crusaders took the lead for good with a will. The scarlet and gray got as close as two points, 24-22, but a Crusader kill on the next point would tie the match at 1-1.

The momentum would return to the Wolves in the third set after six early ties through the first 12 points of the set. Newberry went on a 7-0 run to take a convincing 13-6 lead. Newberry held a comfortable lead through the rest of the set and was able to come away with a 2-1 lead.

Leading 9-4 in the fourth set, North Greenville was looking to put the Wolves away early and send things to a fifth set. Newberry had other plans though. One of Brianna Blakely's (Houston, Texas) two kills on the evening was the catalyst behind a 9-2 run for the Wolves that had them in complete control of the match.

The lead would expand to as many as five points before the Crusaders called timeout and began a comeback of their own.

Leading 21-16 the Wolves offense stalled and the only other point they would accumulate in the set was off of an errant Crusader serve. The home team went on a 9-1 run to end the set and send the match to a deciding fifth set.

In a welcome change of pace, it was the scarlet and gray that came out swinging early in the fifth set. A kill from Scott would give the visitors an early lead but the Crusaders rattled off three straight points to take control of the match.

Kills From Scott and Parrish would knot things up at three and the teams would trade points from there. The scoreboard displayed 6-6 when Newberry decided to snap out of their fifth set funk that had plagued them for the entire season. A kill from Kate Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) and a service ace from Parrish would force the Crusaders to call timeout.

A Scott kill and Lindsey Hollingsworth's (Charleston, S.C.) solitary kill pushed the Wolves lead to four out of the timeout. The Crusaders would never lead again and a pair of kills from Scott coupled with a kill from Anne Staudinger (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and a pair of Crusader attack errors would finally allow the Wolves to celebrate a match win in five sets.

The Wolves employed a multi-pronged attack strategy in order to obtain the hard-earned victory. Scott led all players with a whopping 20 kills. She also hit a match-high .436 in her most dominating performance in a Newberry uniform. The junior also had four block assists and three digs in the match.

Parrish wasn't far behind her teammate, accumulating 18 kills of her own and completing her double-double with a match-high 20 digs. The 6-foot freshman also contributed an assist, a service ace and a block assist to the cause.

Rounding out the main scoring threats for the Wolves was Staudinger who poured in 11 kills to go along with a dig, an assist and a pair of block assists.

Blakely handed out a match-high 60 assists during the match and had a pair of service aces, nine digs and two kills to compliment her set-up game.

The Wolves will return to Eleazer Arena on Friday to play host to Carson-Newman on Friday and Lincoln Memorial on Saturday. The two teams sit ahead of the Wolves in the South Atlantic Conference standings and the scarlet and gray have the opportunity to move into fourth place in the conference with a pair of wins over the weekend. The matches are slated to begin at 7 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday.