Greeneville, TN – North Greenville women’s cross country turned in a second place finish on Friday night at the Tusculum Open despite running without the team’s top runner.

The Rundown

• Score: NGU – 1 Coker – 3 / NGU – 0 Newberry – 3
• Location: Newberry, South Carolina
• Records: NGU 0-2 / Coker 1-1 / Newberry 2-0

How it Happened (Game one vs. Coker)

• The Crusaders took an early lead in the first game and never trailed. The Crusaders led by as many as nine points in the opening frame.
• Coker pulled to within four of the Crusaders but a kill from Samantha Hebb and a service error from the Cobras earned NGU the 25-20 victory.
• NGU led for much of the second frame but the Cobras evened the score at 18-18. North Greenville pulled to within two after Coker took a 21-18 advantage but an ace and a kill from Cobra gave the Cobras a 25-19 victory to even the score at 1-1.
• The Crusaders led once again in the third set but the Cobras once again came on strong late to take the frame 25-22. Coker earned the match win with a 25-16 victory in the fourth.

How it Happened (Game two vs. Newberry)

• The Crusaders trailed midway through the first set against Newberry but outscored the Wolves 6-2 down the stretch to even it at 22.
• The two squads traded points until Newberry scored a kill and used an NGU error to take the first set 26-24.
• The Wolves held a sizeable lead once again in the second set as they took a 16-10 advantage.
• Much like the first set, the Crusaders battled back, scoring six straight, including two kills from Courtney Williams and one from Kenzie Pierce to even it at 16. Tori-Anne Whitlow added an ace to aid NGU’s comeback bid.
• After three consecutive ties, the Wolves put together a quick scoring spurt to take a 23-20 lead. NGU tacked on another pair of scores but the Wolves finished off NGU with a kill from Sidra Triplett to take a 2-0 lead.
• The Wolves would go on to secure the non-conference victory with a 25-20 win in the third set.

The Good Guys:

• Katie McManaway led North Greenville with 22-kills on Friday in her first collegiate action.
• Kenzie Pierce led North Greenville defensively with 25-digs in two games. Pierce also added 20-kills in NGU’s first two games.
• Sarah Miller had 33-assists in each of the two games while NGU racked up nine assisted blocks in the first match against Coker.

Next Time Out:

• The Crusaders continue their weekend in Newberry, taking on Lander University at 9 am. NGU will wrap up the day with a 5 pm match with UNC Pembroke.