NEWBERRY - The Newberry Wolves put on a great show for a big Friday night crowd, earning a 29-27, 25-18, 25-22 sweep of the visiting Tusculum Pioneers in South Atlantic Conference action at Eleazer Arena.

Newberry moves to 10-3 overall and 5-3 in SAC play entering a big non-conference match Saturday, with undefeated and 25th-ranked Armstrong coming to Eleazer Arena for a 1 p.m. start. Tusculum is now 9-5 and 4-3 in the league.

"We had a great atmosphere tonight and it was really great to see so many people come out on a Friday night and support both of our teams and our efforts for breast cancer awareness," head coach Todd Hay said. "I'm really proud of our student body for generating a lot of noise and giving us a great home court advantage."

"Tonight was a night that I felt was a must-win situation. I'm really proud of the team for responding to that pressure. That being said, we've got to find ways to finish off sets. There were too many times we had comfortable leads and got a little lax and had some mental lapses."

"I'm really proud of Alexus Horton tonight, as she hit a good percentage and was in on six blocks. Holly Brisson got the start and responded will with nine kills. Elayni Stokes did a good job steadying us in the first set and was very good on serve receive."

Horton (Austin, Texas) had five errorless kills for a .556 percentage nad the aforementioned six blocks, two of which were solo. Brisson (Lumberton, N.C.) hit .286, while Jessica King (Los Angeles, Calif.) hit .375 with eight kills.

Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) had 10 kills and earned a double-double with 17 digs, while Stokes (Houston, Texas) was fantastic in the back row with 22 digs, including 13 in the first set. Logan Hayward (Sylvania, Ohio) also had 10 kills.

The first set was the toughest for both teams, as it took extra points to decide a winner. Newberry had a lead at 21-14, but an 8-1 run later on let Tusculum tie the set back up at 23-23. From there, both teams wasted opportunities on set point, but Newberry had a Horton kill and saw a Tusculum attack go wide to give the Wolves a 29-27 set win. Tusculum had a higher hitting percentage, but Newberry had 27 digs in the set to keep points alive, with 13 coming from Stokes. Brisson, Hayward and Parrish each had four kills in the set.

In the second set, Newberry put up five blocks and held the Pioneers to a negative hitting percentage at minus-.045. Horton had three blocks in the set, including a solo on set point. King and Parris had three kills apiece in the set.

Out of the break, Newberry flew out to an 8-0 lead, but the Pioneers woke up and quickly narrowed the margin to 10-8. Newberry never lost its edge though, and a Parrish kill set off the celebrations in Eleazer. Hayward had five kills in the final set and the Wolves held Tusculum to a .000 hitting percentage in the frame.