Lions Fall In Five Set Affair At Tusculum

GREENVILLE, TENN. – Three different players recorded double-doubles for the Lions volleyball team, but it was not enough as they dropped a five-set affair to SAC rival Tusculum on Tuesday night. The Pioneers were able to secure the victory by set scores of 25-19, 11-25, 25-21, 17-25 and 15-13. Mars Hill is now 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the conference, while Tusculum improves to 4-2, 1-1.

Junior outside hitter Lauren Hochstetler had a magnificent evening, dropping 15 kills and digging 20 balls on the defensive end to record her first double-double of the season. Rebecca Butler matched Hochstetler with 15 kills while also providing 11 digs.

Mary-Kate Griffin continued her impressive start to the season, adding another solid performance with 11 kills and 14 digs. Freshman Sally Anne Johnson had the best game of her young Lions career, setting a career-high with 14 kills and hitting a beautiful .565. Victoria Kaiser posted a team-high 25 digs while Sara Fahrenbrook recorded 49 assists.

The Lions could not gain any offensive momentum in the first set as the Pioneers went from wire-to-wire to take a 1-0 match lead. However, Mars Hill showed great poise by taking set two. After roaring out to a commanding 15-3 set lead, the Lions were able to finish the frame by a comfortable margin of 25-11. Butler paced the Blue and Gold during the second with five kills, while Kaiser added three service aces.

The third set was a back-and-forth battle that included six ties and two lead changes. The Lions led 15-11 after a kill by Hochstetler, but Tusculum's Cassie Born came up with a kill and then served five straight points as the Pioneers regained the lead at 17-15. A Griffin kill tied the set at 19-19, but two straight kills by TC and back-to-back aces gave the Pioneers momentum to take the set 25-21 and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Mars Hill trailed the Pioneers 16-13 in the pivotal fourth set, but a massive kill from Johnson turned the service back over to the Lions, and Kaiser served 10 straight points as MHU jumped to a 24-16 lead and eventually evened the match at 2-2 with a 25-17 set win.

In the decisive fifth set, the Pioneers scored the first three points and went on top 7-2 following a service ace. Mars Hill would not go down without a fight, and three straight aces from Hochstetler gave the Lions a 9-8 advantage. Kills by Born would tie the score at 9-9 and 10-10, then back-to-back kills from the Lions' Johnson would level the score at 12-12. From that point Tusculum collected 3 of the next four points to capture the 3-2 match win.

Mars Hill finished with 59 kills as a team and hit .262 in the match, while the Pioneers also had 59 kills and hit .231 as a team. The Lions had 13 service aces, including five from Hochstelter and three each from Kaiser and Griffin, while Tusculum finished with seven aces as a team. Mars Hill had a 7-5 edge in blocks, with the Pioneers' Welch having a match-high three rejections.

The Lions will return to action on Friday, September 16 as they welcome Lenoir-Rhyne to Chambers Gymnasium to open the home portion of the 2016 schedule. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.