GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Going the full five-set distance for the third consecutive match, the Anderson University volleyball team outlasted Tusculum, 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 19-17) in South Atlantic Conference action Friday night at Pioneer Arena.

"This was a great win for the team," said Anderson head coach Craig Mosqueda. "There was never a point where we gave up or were out of the match. We played very clean volleyball, limited our errors and had several players step up and contribute. I am very proud of the team and their effort."

Anderson (16-5, 9-4 SAC) drew even with the Pioneers for third place in the league standings with its third straight victory and avenged an earlier five-set loss to Tusculum. The Pioneers slipped under .500 on the season at 10-11 overall, and 9-4 in the conference with their third consecutive loss.

Senior Hailey Pittman led all players with a season-high 24 kills, while adding three digs and five total blocks on the night. Senior outside hitter Shannon Gillespie notched her third double-double of the season by adding 20 kills and 13 digs, while Priscilla Irizarry tallied a season-high 54 assists and 19 digs for her ninth double-double of the campaign. The redshirt sophomore also tallied five block assists, with freshman Kendall Vallancourt recording 11 kills and a pair of block assists in the win. Senior libero Alix Hooker posted 32 digs on the night, her third-highest of the season.

Preseason All-SAC selection Megan Hasse led the Pioneers with 21 kills, while Sabrina Schleuger added 12 kills and Jaida Allen chipped in 11. Freshman setter Shannon Murphy handed out 50 assists, with Moriah Jones leading Tusculum with 28 digs.

The Pioneers overcame an early Trojan lead in the opening set and held on as a late AU rally fell just short. The combination of Tusculum posting an impressive .324 hitting percentage on its home court and the Trojans committing six attack errors proved too much for AU to overcome.

Pittman and Gillespie combined for seven kills in the early going, as the Trojans gained a 10-5 advantage, but the Pioneers countered with an 11-5 run to gain their third lead of the frame at 16-15 on an AU miscue. The Trojans answered to take a brief 18-17 edge on an error by the Pioneers, but it was the last advantage that the Trojans would hold through the remainder of the frame, as TC posted three unanswered points to gain a 20-18 lead. On the strength of back-to-back kills by Hasse and sophomore Rachel Garnett, the Pioneers built a 23-20 advantage before Pittman sandwiched kills around a kill by Hasse and sophomore Tinsley Hallman added a service ace to put the score at 24-23, forcing a TC timeout. Garnett then claimed the set for the Pioneers with her second kill of the frame.

Anderson scored the first three points of the second set en route to building an 11-6 lead, as the trio of Gillespie, Pittman and Irizarry totaled eight kills during the breakout. The Pioneers then tallied three consecutive points to trim AU's advantage to just two, but Tusculum would get no closer, as the Trojans answered with a 9-4 outburst to take control of the set. Pittman and Gillespie each notched a kill and AU capitalized on four errors during the surge, with the Pioneers closing to within 22-18 before freshman Marissa Mitter and Pittman posted kills, with Mitter recording her first block of the night to finish the set.

Anderson claimed an early 8-4 lead in the third set, with Pittman fueling the surge on the strength of three kills. Leading by four, at 10-6, the Trojans steadily built a 19-13 advantage and closed the frame by scoring the final four points of the set to take a one-set lead.

The fourth set featured six ties and a pair of lead changes and with AU holding a 14-11 edge, Tusculum reeled off six consecutive points to claim a 17-14 lead that it would not relinquish. Gillespie halted the run with her 14th kill of the night, but the Pioneers resumed the outburst with back-to-back kills before Gillespie answered with a pair of kills of her own to pull AU within 19-17 and the Trojans trimmed the deficit to one on two occasions, but were unable to overtake the Pioneers.

The two teams combined for 11 errors in the final set and with the score knotted at 11 apiece, Tusculum snapped the deadlock with two straight points, and after the two teams traded service errors, the Pioneers were on the verge of claiming the match by holding a 14-12 advantage. But the Trojans battled back to even the score and with the score tied at 17-17, sophomore Tinsley Hallman posted one of her two solo blocks on the night, with Pittman and Vallancourt following by combining for the final block of the contest.

Anderson will look to extend the win streak to four, when the Trojans visit Mars Hill Saturday afternoon. First-serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Stanford Arena.