Women’s Volleyball clinches SAC Tourney bid with win in five-set thriller at Newberry

Newberry, S.C. —- The Catawba College women's volleyball team clinched its spot in the South Atlantic Conference Volleyball tournament on Thursday night, coming behind from two sets down to earn a five-set win at Newberry in SAC volleyball action.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba had 58 kills to Newberry's 48

- The Wolves out-hit Catawba .173 to .130

- The Catawba Indians had 56 assists to Newberry's 45

- Each side recorded four service aces

- Catawba had 86 digs to the Wolves' 74

- Newberry recorded nine blocks to Catawba's seven

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Kelcie Love hit .283 for a career-high 22 kills 

- Katrina Misra added 11 kills, while Jordan Danielson recorded nine kills and 12 digs

- Rachel Gonzales chipped in seven kills, 10 digs and a team-high two aces

- Dara Kane matched her career-high with 55 assists

- Kary Hales led the team with 22 digs; Riley Hill added 16 digs

- Chloe Danielson led the team with two blocks along with six kills

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST SET

- Newberry struck first with a 5-2 lead early on in the first set

- Three straight points capped by Gonzales' ace cut Newberry's lead to 8-7

- Madison Watson's kill stretched the Wolves' lead to 15-11

- Love's kill brought Catawba's deficit to 19-18, but four straight Newberry points returned the Wolves' lead to 23-18

- Back-to-back Newberry attack errors gave the Wolves the opening set

SECOND SET

- Three straight points for Newberry opened up a 7-3 lead for the hosts

- The Wolves led 11-6 before Catawba responded for seven of eight points to take a 13-12 lead

- Newberry forced another tie before Love's kill gave the visitors a slight 17-16 advantage

- The Wolves responded with four straight points to take a 20-17 lead

- Catawba could not tie the score from thereon, as Ava Brown's kill gave Newberry a 2-0 lead in the match

THIRD SET

- The sides were even early on in the set, tied at 8 a third of the way through

- Newberry took a 10-8 lead after three straight points

- The Wolves held a 15-12 lead midway through the frame and 20-17 after a Catawba error

- Catawba would rattle off six of the next seven points, taking a 23-21 lead on Love's kill

- Love punctuated the set win with a kill to win the third, 25-23

FOURTH SET

- Back-to-back kills from Chloe Danielson and Misra put Catawba ahead 5-2

- Newberry battled back to take a 10-9 lead on a Kate Brown kill

- After Newberry took a commanding 18-13 lead, Catawba once again answered with six of seven points to tie the set at 19

- Newberry took the next two points, threatening with a 21-19 advantage

- Catawba fired back, winning six of seven points for the third time in the match to take the fourth set and force a decisive fifth game, 25-22

FIFTH SET

- Catawba sprinted out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth and final set

- The teams traded points shortly thereafter, as Catawba led 10-6

- The Catawba Indians ended the match winning three of four points, clinching their spot in the conference tourney with a Gonzales kill to complete the reverse sweep

UP NEXT

- Catawba completes their regular season on Friday night, traveling to UVA Wise for a match with the Cavaliers at 6 p.m.