NEWBERRY - The Newberry Wolves celebrated the contributions of this year's four seniors prior to the match, but were not able to celebrate a win, falling to the Tusculum Pioneers 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23) in Eleazer Arena on Friday night.

Newberry falls to 14-11 overall and 8-6 in the South Atlantic Conference and will host Mars Hill at 1 p.m. Saturday. Tusculum is now 15-6 overall and 9-4 in the league.

The Wolves recognized Caitlin Chastain (Ninety Six, S.C.), Alex Marshall (Ware Shoals, S.C.), Dixie Timms (Ninety Six, S.C.) and Blair Browning (New Lexington, Ohio) prior to the match. Browning had a double-double with 46 assists and 13 digs in the match.

Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) had 16 kills and 22 digs, but hit only .031. Lauren Prachar (Fort Wayne, Ind.) had 12 kills and 15 digs, Elayni Stokes (Houston, Texas) tied with Parrish for the team lead with 22 digs.

Jessica King (Los Angeles, Calif.) hit .318 with nine kills and Madison Schultz (Decatur, Ind.) hit .316 with eight kills.

The Pioneers got off to a hot start in the first set, recording the first five points and never looking back. Newberry was able to narrow the deficit to as few as three points at 14-11, but another 5-0 Tusculum run put the set out of reach. TC hit .233 in the set on the way to a 25-17 set win, while Newberry was limited to .047 with Parrish earning three kills.

Newberry responded in the second set, using a 7-2 run to jump out to a 13-7 lead. The Pioneers got back to within three points at 16-13, but the Wolves scored the next three points to get the lead back out to six. Newberry had set point at 24-20, but TC forced a timeout but taking the next two points. The Wolves tied the match at a set apiece when Schultz' kill gave Newberry the 25-22 set win. Parrish had five kills in the set, while Schultz and Amanda Soper (Simi Valley, Calif.) each had three kills without an error.

In the third set, Newberry was the early leader, with a pair of Parrish aces helping the scarlet and gray take the first four points. Newberry led 10-4 before Tusculum went on a huge run, scoring 11 of the next 13 points including seven consecutive points to take a 15-12 lead. Newberry fought back to tie the set at 17-all, but a 5-0 TC run would provide the difference as the Pioneers went up 2-1 with the 25-20 set win. Tusculum had only one hitting error on the way to a .381 percentage, while Newberry hit .220 behind six kills from Parrish and four from Prachar.

The fourth set was the tightest of the night, with 12 ties and five lead changes. Newberry took a 10-7 lead thanks to a three-point run capped by a King ace, but the Pioneers had tied the set back up by 13-all. The next lead of more than one point wouldn't come until Newberry's 18-16 lead. Newberry had as much as a three point lead, but another Tusculum run swung the momentum late. Newberry had a 21-19 lead and TC scored five straight to get to match point at 24-21. Newberry battled back with two kills to force a TC timeout, but Alyssa Raterman put away match point to give the Pioneers the win. Prachar had four kills in the set to lead the Wolves, who out-hit TC .133 to .111, but Newberry had two ball handling errors late.