ANDERSON, S.C. – Newberry College senior Natasha Bannister recorded 16 kills in Newberry's 3-2 win over the Anderson Trojans on Friday night.
 
Trailing 12-10 in the first set, the Wolves rallied for five points to take a 15-12 lead. Near the end of the opening set, Newberry weathered a three-point rally from the Trojans and held a 23-21 lead. After an Anderson service error and kill, Newberry had a 24-22 set point. Sophomore setter Avery Webb snuck a ball over the net into a gap in the Trojan defense for the set-winning kill, 25-22. 
 
The second set featured 11 ties throughout, including knotted scores at 24, 25, 26, and 27. After a service error from the Trojans, sophomore libero Morgan Walter served up a clutch ace to win the marathon second set for the Wolves, 29-27. The Wolves boasted a .421 hit percentage in the second set.
 
Bannister smashed six kills in the third and fourth sets, but the Wolves wavered and dropped both sets 25-17, 25-15.
 
In the decisive race-to-15 in the fifth set, Newberry totaled seven kills and benefited from six opponent errors. Anderson scored the first point of the final set and led by as many as three points, 9-6. Freshman outside hitter Taylor Hall got a kill followed by two Trojan errors for a three-point rally. Anderson briefly held a 10-9 lead, but quickly conceded it back to Newberry. The Wolves outscored Anderson 6-1 over the final seven points in crunch time. Hall recorded her 12th kill to bring Newberry to the match point, 14-11. She then toed the service line and powered a serve over the net and Anderson could not handle it. Her service ace catapulted Newberry to a 15-11 set win and an exciting 3-2 match victory.
 
FAST FACTS

• Newberry snapped a six-game losing streak against the Trojans, with their most recent win against Anderson coming Oct. 18, 2016.
• Sophomore outside hitter Katie Ullsperger recorded eight kills. Her tally marks her highest kill total since she had eight vs Anderson on Oct. 22, 2019.
• The Wolves had five aces Friday night, 1.0 aces per set. Last season, they averaged 1.7 aces per set.
• Newberry rallied for five points on two separate occasions. Both rallies happened in the first set.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Wolves (1-0, 1-0 SAC) host the Coker University Cobras (0-0, 0-0 SAC) on Thursday, Mar. 4 at 7 p.m.