KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Trailing two sets to one to Tennessee Tech Saturday afternoon, the UNCG volleyball team won the fourth set and rallied from a big deficit in the fifth to pull out a 3-2 (25-15, 23-25, 19-25, 15-13) victory at the DISH Tennessee Classic inside Thompson Boling Arena. The Spartans improve to 4-2 overall and have won four of their last five matches while the Purple Eagles remain winless on their campaign at 0-7.

The offense was led by sophomore outside hitter Ashley Muench and her 19 kills. She was joined in double figures by redshirt freshman middle hitter Jasmine Jones, junior outside hitter Alexis Mourier, senior middle hitter Julia Westerbur and sophomore outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn as the quartet recorded 14, 11, 10 and 10 kills respectively. Jones' kill output marked a career high for the young middle and resulted in a .357 hitting percentage (14k/4e/28ta).

Senior defensive specialist Katherine Santiago paced the back row with a season-high 27 digs and freshman defensive specialist Christina Gregory added 16. Sophomore defensive specialist Anna Romaniszyn checked in with 13 digs herself while Brezwyn picked up 13 to notch her first double-double of the season.

Freshman setter Allison Penner played the final three sets and nearly tallied a double-double as she ended up with an impressive 34 assists and nine digs. Junior setter Sara Hohman put up 19 assists and five digs in the first two frames.

UNCG hit .223 in the match with 68 kills in 193 attempts while limiting Tennessee Tech to .128 efficiency with 51 kills on 187 swings. The Spartans fell just short of 100 digs as they racked up 95 to the Purple Eagles' 87. The teams also combined for 20 total blocks and 20 service errors as well as eight aces.

The teams battled to a 5-5 tie to begin the first set before a kill by Mourier sparked a 4-0 UNCG run that prompted a Tennessee Tech timeout. A Cody Dodd kill drew the Purple Eagles within 11-9 but the Spartans scored four straight and started to pull away. A service ace by Jones saw the Blue and Gold extend its lead to 18-10 and UNCG cruised the rest of the way, closing out the stanza 25-18.

The Spartans were forced to take a timeout when TTU rung up a 6-3 advantage to begin set two. UNCG looked to be out of it trailing 22-16 and 24-20 but the Spartans saved three-straight set points to pull within 24-23. The Purple Eagles recovered though and used a block to seal the two-point victory and tie the match at one.

 A kill by Jones afforded UNCG a 6-3 lead in the third set but the Spartans took a timeout when Tennessee Tech took the lead at 8-7. The Spartans fell behind by as much as 14-11 later in the frame but two kills and an attacking error quickly knotted the score at 14. The Blue and Gold took its final timeout of the set when a Brezwyn attacking error gave TTU an 18-16 lead. The Purple Eagles extended the lead to 22-17 before capturing the set 25-19.

On the serve of Gregory and Westerbur, UNCG raced out to an 8-3 advantage in set four and was really not threatened in the stanza. Tennessee Tech rallied within 14-11 but a 7-2 Spartan run put it out of reach. A kill by Muench sealed the set 25-18 and moved the match to the decider.

The Purple Eagles captured all of the momentum to begin the fifth and forced UNCG to use both of its timeouts on the way to an 8-3 cushion. A kill by Penner kickstarted a 3-0 run that brought the Spartans to within 8-6 and a later kill by Muench deadlocked the score at nine. The teams scrapped to ties at 10 and 11 points, but a kill by Mourier and a mammoth block by Westerbur and Brezwyn put on the brink of victory. Tennessee Tech was able to save one match point. However, a Jones kill right down the heart of the defense clinched the UNCG comeback.

The Spartans turn right around and play their final match of the tournament against North Florida at 4:30 p.m.

Keep up with the UNCG volleyball team all season by logging on to www.uncgspartans.com and following the Spartans' official Twitter accounts @uncgvb/@uncgsports.