NEWBERRY, S.C. – The Ayers twins lifted the Catawba women's volleyball team to a pivotal South Atlantic Conference (SAC) comeback victory at Newberry Saturday afternoon.
Rebekah Ayers erupted offensively, scoring 16 kills on an outstanding .433 hitting percentage while adding a solo block and four block assists. Maggie Ayers also notched 16 kills at an ultra-efficient .351 rate and recorded a solo block. Lillie Kate Rogers and Alani Kincaid rounded out the double-digit scorers, Rogers with 13 kills and 17 digs and Kincaid with 11 kills.
Sydney McCutcheon and Romey Gaeta each posted season highs in assists, McCutcheon with 29 and 14 digs, and Gaeta with 21, while adding three aces to the stat sheet. Riley Hill led the team with 20 digs.
Catawba (13-11, 9-11 SAC) recorded a season-best 67 kills by producing an efficient attack, hitting at a .227 percentage. The blue and white also doubled up Newberry (14-13, 7-13 SAC) in aces, 8-4.
Back-to-back kills from Maggie Ayers and an ace from Gaeta put the blue and white ahead 8-3 early in the first set. Rogers continued the Catawba's impressive attack, scoring on six kills in the set as the team totaled 17 on a quality .300 hitting percentage in a 25-22 first-frame victory.
The Wolves came out hungry in the second, took an early lead, and held it through to even the match with a 25-18 win.
The hosts held the momentum through the middle of the third, leading 14-11. Catawba responded with a 7-2 run, highlighted by three kills from Rogers. Newberry looked to answer with a 5-0 run of their own to take a 23-21 advantage. Rebekah Ayers combined with Maddie Henning for consecutive blocks and delivered a kill to give the visitors' set point. The Wolves, however, came back to take the thrilling third set 27-25.
McCutcheon served two aces, and Maggie Ayers tallied two kills, putting Catawba ahead 10-5 to start the fourth. Newberry continued to chip away until taking a 19-18 lead. The blue and white sensed the moment and responded with a crucial 4-0 run. The SAC foes fighting for their playoff chances traded points until Kincaid sealed a much-needed fourth frame with an emphatic kill to force a deciding fifth set.
The Catawba Indians would explode to a 6-0 fifth-frame lead after three kills from Rebekah Ayers. The blue and white continued its impressive attack, and Maggie Ayers would land the final punch as Catawba hit an astronomical .647 percentage in a 15-6 final set win, clinching a crucial road victory.
Catawba currently sits a half game back of the final South Atlantic Conference playoff spot with two home matches remaining.
The Catawba Indians will host Carson-Newman on Friday, November 6th at 7 p.m. before Lincoln Memorial comes to Salisbury on Saturday, November 7th at 2 p.m. for Senior Day in more critical SAC matches to end the regular season.
