HARTSVILLE, S.C. --- Taylor du Bray recorded a match-high 18 kills to lead the Coker volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep over visiting Tusculum Saturday afternoon at the DeLoach Center.
The Cobras (13-15, 6-12 South Atlantic Conference) won the match by scores of 33-31, 25-18, 25-22 to avenge a 3-2 loss to the Pioneers (15-14, 10-9 SAC) earlier this year to split the season series.
Coker posted 49 kills with 14 errors in 152 attempts for a .230 hitting percentage, while also tallying nine team blocks. Tusculum committed 26 hitting errors while posting 46 kills in 154 attempts for a .130 average.
TC senior Sabrina Schleuger had 13 kills with nine digs and three service aces. Aubrey Hawkins added 12 kills, while Shannon Murphy had a double-double with 40 assists and 12 digs in the loss. TC libero Melissa Mazur finished with 21 digs for the visitors.
The Cobras got a double-double from setter Christen Bragg as she posted 40 assists and 13 digs, while Kara Overholt led all players with her 24 digs.
In the opening set, Coker led 20-15 following one of TC's 14 attack errors in the set. The Pioneers tried to put together a rally as TC went on a 10-4 run and fought off a pair of set points to take a 25-24 lead. The lead would be tied seven more times as Coker fought off set point seven times. The Cobras got a du Bray kill, a TC hitting error and a du Bray service ace as the hosts won the frame 33-31.
Tusculum looked to have righted the ship as the Pioneers took a 13-8 lead following kills from Schleuger and Hawkins. After a Coker timeout, the Cobras erupted for a 10-0 run to take an 18-13 lead, one they would not relinquish as Coker prevailed 25-18.
In the third frame, the match exchanged hands seven times with 14 ties, the last one coming at 20-20. Coker scored three straight points to take a 23-20 lead. TC answered with consecutive points to cut the deficit to one at 23-22. But a kill from Bethany Prochnow and a TC hitting error clinched the win for the Cobras, prevailing 25-22.
Tusculum ends a grueling six-match road swing and returns home to host SAC front-runner Anderson this Friday (Nov. 10) night at 7 p.m. in TC's annual Senior Night.
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