GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Newberry Wolves volleyball team concluded their season against Tusculum on the road Saturday afternoon, losing 3-1. With the loss, the Wolves drop to 7-20 (5-17) on the season.
The Pioneers dominated the crucial second set after going up 1-0. It looked as if Newberry was in position to seize the momentum as they tied the set at seven early on, but that was hardly the case. Tusculum won three consecutive points to go up 10-7, and after the Wolves won a point to close the gap to two, the Pioneers ran off a 10-0 run to all but close out the set. Newberry continued to battle hard but Tusculum won the set 25-11 to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
Tusculum started the match off strong as they won four consecutive points to open up the early lead. Newberry quickly closed the gap to two points at 9-7, setting the stage for a back and forth first set. After the Pioneers got out to a 15-10 lead, the Wolves stormed back to tie the match at 15. Newberry continued to play well and had late leads at 20-18 and 23-22, but Tusculum won the last three points of the set to take the early 1-0 lead with a 25-23 victory.
Newberry battled hard in the third set with their backs against the wall. The Pioneers got out to an early lead and maintained it throughout the set; they led 15-12 and looked poised to complete the home sweep. The Wolves would not go away and closed to within 18-17, but Tusculum won four consecutive points to get within three points of clinching the match. Newberry got within 23-21 before winning the last four points of the set to win 25-23 and close to within 2-1 overall.
The fourth set saw another banner Tusculum effort as they got out to an early 7-1 lead and cruised to the finish. Although Newberry would continue to play hard and close within two points at 17-15, the Pioneers won eight of twelve points to close the match out with a 25-19 fourth set victory.
Newberry was led by Toni-Anne Whitlow, who finished with 14 kills in her final match. Sidra Triplett was excellent at the net with four blocks in her final appearance as a Wolf, and Sydney Diaz led the team with 15 digs in her final match.