NEWBERRY - The Newberry Wolves picked up a dramatic five-set win over rival Lenoir-Rhyne in Eleazer Arena on Friday to earn their third consecutive five-set win in South Atlantic Conference play. Set scores were 21-25, 29-27, 25-16, 23-25, 15-12.

Newberry moves to 14-8 overall and 9-7 in SAC play, while Lenoir-Rhyne drops to 13-7 overall and 10-6 in league play. The Wolves host Brevard in a conference match at 11 a.m. Saturday and also host Georgia Regents Augusta at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

Jessica King (Los Angeles, Calif.) hit .522 in the match with 15 kills and six blocks to lead the way for Newberry's attack. Alexus Horton (Austin, Texas) hit .346 with 13 kills and two blocks. Logan Hayward (Sylvania, Ohio) had 12 kills and three blocks and Holly Brisson (Lumberton, N.C.) had 10 kills.

Chelsea Mayor (Sugar Land, Texas) passed out 31 assists and Rachel Moran (Cypress, Texas) had 27 helpers. Elayni Stokes (Houston, Texas) had a match-high 25 digs.

"As we go forward, every conference match is critical for not only our place in the conference, but a potential spot in the regional standings," said head coach Todd Hay. "With that in mind, I thought tonight was a must-win match. I think our crowd helped us out as they always do on a Friday night. Our middle blockers and setters came in with a good mindset and I think for the first time all year, our middles led us in kills. Their hitting average was fantastic and our setters looked to get them the ball.

"We made 15 unforced errors in the first set alone and in the third set, we only made eight. You can see that if you swing that number lower, it helps you push for the win."

The Bears out-hit the Wolves in the opening set by a .172 to .033 margin despite four errorless kills from King. Newberry led 9-8, but Lenoir-Rhyne scored 10 of the next 13 points to take a five-point lead and hold off the Wolves.

Newberry led the second set 19-14 before a five-point L-R surge tied up the set and started an epic battle. From the 23-all tie, neither team could score consecutive points until the Wolves put away the final two on kills from King and Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) to tie up the match. The middle duo of Horton and King continued an errorless streak with Horton putting away five kills in the set and King throwing down four kills.

The Wolves ran away with the third set, hitting .353 in the frame. Stokes kept points alive with seven digs and Horton had four kills. Brisson, King and Amanda Soper (Simi Valley, Calif.) each had three kills in the set as well.

Lenoir-Rhyne would not go away quietly, taking the fourth set by the slimmest of margins. The set was tied as late as 23-all, but two Newberry errors gave the Bears the set. Hayward had five kills without an error in the set, but the Wolves were limited to their lowest percentage of the night at .022.

Newberry scored the first three points of the deciding set, but L-R swung the momentum and took a 7-6 lead. The sides battled furiously to a 12-all tie before Newberry claimed another Friday night home match with kills from Brisson and King and a match point ace from Stokes.