ATHENS, Tenn. — For the second time in less than 24 hours, CIU women's volleyball found itself in a decisive fifth set Saturday morning, and once again, the Rams delivered when it mattered most, outlasting Tennessee Wesleyan University in a five-set Appalachian Athletic Conference thriller.
Coming off a dramatic comeback victory over Bryan College on Friday night, CIU jumped ahead two sets before Tennessee Wesleyan rallied to force a fifth. The Rams ultimately prevailed 25-21, 25-16, 23-25, 14-25, 15-10 to secure their third consecutive AAC victory and improve to 15-12 overall and 11-4 in conference play.
CIU established an early advantage with 16 kills in the opening set, hitting .255 to claim a 25-21 victory. The Rams followed with a 25-16 win in the second, putting themselves within one set of completing the sweep.
Tennessee Wesleyan refused to go quietly, however, edging CIU 25-23 in a tightly contested third set that featured 12 ties and five lead changes. The Bulldogs carried that momentum into the fourth, hitting .341 with 19 kills to take a convincing 25-14 victory and send the match to a decisive fifth frame.
With the match hanging in the balance, CIU rediscovered its offensive rhythm in the final set. The Rams hammered down 13 kills with just one attack error on 33 attempts, hitting .364 to secure a 15-10 victory and complete a perfect two-match road weekend.
Mary Norwood turned in one of her strongest performances of the season, leading CIU with a career-high 22 kills while hitting .317. Zcearia James followed closely with 19 kills and just two errors on 53 attempts for a .321 hitting percentage. Together, the duo accounted for 41 of the Rams' 64 kills.
Macy Brooks posted 54 assists, 10 digs and two service aces, while Ashley Burgbacher collected a team-high 24 digs. Ashlee Gomes added 15 digs and five kills, while Alexa Brownell contributed 10 digs.
CIU also found success from the service line, recording 12 aces. Sarah Lancaster led the way with four, while Riley Decker added three and Brooks chipped in two.
The Rams finished with 64 kills and a .232 hitting percentage while collecting 90 digs in the five-set battle.
CIU returns to the road Tuesday when the Rams travel to Spartanburg Methodist University for a 6:30 p.m. ET Appalachian Athletic Conference matchup.
