NEWBERRY – Newberry saw a one set lead on the Tusculum Pioneers disappear into another 3-1 loss on Saturday afternoon, dropping the Wolves to 6-5 overall and 0-3 in South Atlantic Conference play. The Pioneers improve to 2-8 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Boxscore

Junior Rachel Moran led the Wolves yet again, handing out 29 assists, hitting .375 with six errorless kills and totaling three service aces. Senior Jessica King led the Wolves with nine kills. Three Wolves tagged double-digit dig matches, senior Elayni Stokes led Newberry with 20, while fellow seniors Lauren Prachar and Amanda Soper had 14 and 12, respectively.

Laryssa Welch and Megan Hasse led the Pioneers offensively, posting 15 and 14 kills, respectively. Libero Moriah Jones led all players with a match high 34 digs.

In the first set Newberry came out the gate fast, picking up a 14-9 lead. The Pioneers battled back to even it up at 14, but Newberry five point run which proved to be crucial to winning the set. After Newberry forced set point at 24-20, the Pioneers recorded three straight kills before senior Holly Brisson wrapped up the frame with a kill. King had four kills in five attempts without a miscue, while Soper and Moran added three errorless kills apiece. Stoked and Prachar combined for 13 of the Wolves’ 23 digs.

Tusculum just sprinted away with the second set, jumping out to a 17-9 lead and scoring eight of the last 12 points to take the frame 25-13. Moran was the only bright spot for the Wolves, recording two errorless kills.

Newberry fought back after being down the entire match to tie the game at 20-all. The Wolves saw a late two point lead fall to four straight Pioneer points, compliments of two Wolves’ errors. Tusculum took the set 25-23. Soper and Brisson combined for seven of the Wolves’ 11 kills.

The Wolves fought tooth and nail in fourth set, but after closing the gap to 14-10, Tusculum went on a five point run which would prove to be all they would need, taking the frame 25-13 and the match 3-1. King had three kills and Stokes picked up six digs for Newberry.

The Wolves return to action Tuesday as they travel to Mars Hill for a 7 p.m. South Atlantic Conference matchup. Newberry then returns home to host Coker Friday night at 7 p.m. and Wingate Saturday at 2 p.m.