Volleyball Rallies for Victory Over Anderson

MARS HILL, N.C. – Trailing 14-10 in the fifth set, the Mars Hill volleyball team rallied to claim a 17-15 victory in the set and a 3-2 win over Anderson in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action in Stanford Arena on Friday night. The Lions won by scores of 25-19, 21-25, 16-25, 25-21 and 17-15. Mars Hill is 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the league while Anderson is 4-4 and 2-1.

Rebecca Butler led the Lions with 17 kills, followed by Mary Kate Griffin with 14 and Lauren Hochstetler with 12. Victoria Kaiser had a match-high 32 digs. Butler and Hochstetler finished with 22 and 15 digs, respectively. Elizabeth Kaeser recorded four of Mars Hill's eight service aces.

Serena Jackson led the Trojans with 11 kills, followed by 10 kills each from Jessica Harris, Tinsley Hallman and Allison Gaminde. Hallman and Emily Conard led Anderson with 25 digs each.

After Anderson won the first point of the opening set, Mars Hill raced ahead to a 16-9 lead following a Kaeser kill. Anderson battled back to pull within four, 21-16, but the Lions used a Butler kill to halt the Trojan rally and took advantage of a pair of Anderson errors to claim a 25-19 opening set win. Mars Hill hit a match-best .300 in the opening stanza.

With the second set tied at 8, Anderson used a 7-1 run to claim a 15-9 lead. Mars Hill would battle back to four points, 21-17 before a Lion error gave the visitors a 23-17 lead. The Lions took advantage of a Trojan service error and had three consecutive service aces from Kaeser to cut the deficit to 23-21 before a pair of MHU errors ended the set.

After a Maddie Spurgeon kill gave the Lions a 1-0 lead in the third set, the Trojans would hit .244 to lead by as many as 10 points in the middle stages of a 25-16 set three win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Mars Hill pulled ahead to a 5-0 lead in the fourth set and led by as many as seven points only to see the Trojans battle back to within a point, 16-15, following a Jessica Harris kill. Butler answered for the lions with a kill followed by a pair of Trojan errors for a 19-15 MHU advantage. Anderson would get to within two points, 21-19, before the Lions finished out the set with a 25-21 win to force a decisive fifth set.

The Lions raced ahead to a 3-0 lead in the fifth set before the Trojans evened the frame at 4 following a Lion error. Anderson would pull ahead 12-8 after a Jackson kill and 14-10 after another Jackson kill. The Trojans would commit four consecutive attack errors to allow the Lions to pull even, with a Butler kill giving Mars Hill a 15-14 lead. Anderson would answer with a Harris kill, but the Lions used consecutive kills from Butler and Hochstetler to complete the comeback.

Mars Hill returns to action on Tuesday, traveling to Tusculum for a 7 p.m. contest.