Volleyball Wins Fifth Five-Set Match Against Columbia
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tennessee Wesleyan (15-6, 7-2) | 23 | 25 | 26 | 22 | 15 | 3 |
|
Columbia (SC) (3-16, 3-7) | 25 | 20 | 24 | 25 | 13 | 2 |
COLUMBIA, S.C.- For the fifth time this season and second consecutive match, the volleyball team won a match that went to five sets. This time the thrilling win came against the Columbia College Koalas in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) match.
A service ace by Talynn Wheeler helped the Lady Bulldogs take a 5-1 lead early in the first set. A kill by Savannah Jones moved the lead to 8-3. Momentum did not stay with TWU though as Columbia tied the match 11-11 before going ahead 17-14. A service ace by Megan Thompson tied the score a few moments later and a kill by Hunter Ford gave the team a 22-21 lead. Columbia scored four of the last five points to win the first set 25-23.
The second set saw the Lady Bulldogs come from behind to win the set 25-20. Trailing 14-11, Tennessee Wesleyan scored six straight points to force a lead change, taking a 17-14 lead on Wheeler's service ace. Amya Sutton and Ford combined to the last four points for the Lady Bulldogs, with Sutton's kill giving the team their 25th point.
TWU made it two in a row in the third set. Trailing by as many as six points, the Lady Bulldogs battled back to tie the set 20-20 deep in the set. Three consecutive kills by Ella Brannan helped Tennessee Wesleyan take a 23-22 lead and the team went on to win the set 26-24 on back-to-back kills by Jones and Alley Hibdon.
In the fourth set, a kill by Audra Capps helped the Lady Bulldogs lead 6-3 early. With TWU leading 10-7, Columbia scored five straight points to go ahead by two points. TWU pulled withint one point two times in the remainder of the set, once on a Hibdon kill and the other on a Brannan kill, but Columbia won the fourth set 25-23 to force the fifth set.
The opponents took the early advantage in the fifth. The Lady Bulldogs did not let Columbia pull too far ahead though. With the score tied 9-9, Tennessee Wesleyan broke the tie with kills by Jones, Nyah Hudson, and Brannan, and ended the match on a Sutton kill with a 15-13 fifth-set win.
Jones led the offense with a career-high 14 kills while Hibdon had 37 assists in the match.
The win moved the team's record to 15-6 overall and 7-2 in the AAC.