GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Catawba College men's volleyball team resumed play with a five-set thriller at Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (IVA) foe Tusculum on Friday, rallying back for a 3-2 reverse sweep over the Pioneers.

TEAM STATS
- Catawba (7-10, 3-0 IVA) registered a .252 hitting percentage, the squad's best mark on the road this season, with 50 kills against Tusculum's (11-7, 0-3 IVA) .134 clip and 45 kills
- The Pioneers finished with a 9-4 advantage in service aces, but Catawba fired with more accuracy by a margin of 20-16 in errors
- The Catawba Indians elevated for a program-record 15.5 blocks while Tusculum added 12 stops; TU set its program's best blocking mark during the teams' February meeting
- The digs category was ruled by the blue and white in 48-35 fashion
- Catawba's sideout percentage steadily improved in each set, rising from 52% to 88% as point scoring tipped in the Catawba Indians' favor

INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Justin Arrowood notched a double-double with team highs of 20 kills and 11 digs, also chipping in three blocks including a solo denial
- Anders Christianson picked up 12 kills and served an ace while turning in three blocks and six digs on the defensive side
- Logan Neitzel batted .500 with no errors, landing seven kills on 14 swings while tallying five blocks and three digs
- John Clinton delivered a team-high three service aces with six kills, six digs and four blocks (one solo)
- Kristian Smith contributed 43 assists with five digs and a team-high seven blocks, sharing the top mark with Wyatt Eastin who collected four kills and six digs
- Max Adkisson joined Arrowood in the team lead for digs with 11, in addition to dishing out three assists

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- A steady stream of offense and net superiority pushed TU out to a 10-4 lead early with two of Catawba's points coming from off-target Pioneer serves
- Clinton broke the Pioneers' serve with a kill to trim the gap to four, but a 7-1 run for the hosts including a pair of Morgan Makovec strikes restored the orange and black's firm advantage
- Catawba then put together a 7-1 surge of its own featuring two Neitzel darts to set up a contested end to the set at 20-16
- Two service errors haunted the Catawba Indians as Christianson blasted a trio of kills to keep the visitors alive, but Makovec smashed set point to put the Pioneers in front

Second Set
- Neitzel and Smith kicked off the stanza with a block, igniting a fierce back-and-forth start that included side outs on 21 of 23 rallies
- Following two kills from Arrowood, Aiden Roper went back-to-back with aces for TU to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the set at 18-15
- An attack error pulled Catawba within two points, but the hosts claimed seven of the final nine rallies to strengthen their lead to 2-0 in the match

Third Set
- Arrowood, Christianson and Clinton delivered bullseyes to open the third frame with a small edge, shortly before three TU points put the Catawba Indians behind 8-6
- Two strikes from Arrowood and one by Neitzel, matched with a couple of service miscues by the Pioneers, got Catawba back within striking distance
- Christianson and Eastin found the floor to bookend an assisted block between Eastin and Arrowood, lifting the visitors ahead 18-16
- Although the Pioneers tied the score at 18-all, Catawba tallied six kills in the last 10 rallies while ending the set on a 5-1 run to claim the set

Fourth Set
- The Catawba Indians capitalized on the hosts' mistakes and added their own offensive power to assume a 7-4 edge early on
- Back-to-back aces from Clinton improved Catawba's start to 10-5, but TU aimed to halt the visitors' momentum by cutting into the deficit at 12-9
- Instead, five consecutive points for the blue and white capped by a Clinton kill created a solid cushion
- Up 18-12, Catawba made quick work of the Pioneers the rest of the way with a 7-1 wave comprised of five TU errors, an Eastin kill, and a set-sealing ace by Clinton

Fifth Set
- Arrowood blocked Donovan Nye on the opening rally, then slammed a kill moments later in another seesaw start
- Christianson and Arrowood supplied kills before TU took its first lead of the set, grabbed via a Reef Mathis kill at 6-5
- A three-man block tied the score, allowing a 6-1 shift to commence with Clinton and Arrowood finding paydirt to gain an 11-7 edge
- The hosts moved within three, but a kill by Neitzel followed by a block and a kill from Clinton completed the reverse sweep at Pioneer Arena

UP NEXT
Catawba has a quick turnaround but a short trip to its next destination, heading to Harrogate, Tenn., to face another IVA opponent in Lincoln Memorial tomorrow (Mar. 21) at 2 p.m.