CENTRAL — After not playing at historic Tysinger Gymnasium since Sept. 29, the Southern Wesleyan volleyball team enjoyed a warm welcome home as they defeated Toccoa Falls College 3-1 on Wednesday evening.

The night didn’t start off so well for the Warriors as they quickly fell down 1-7 in the opening set. Following a time out by SWU head coach Derek Schmitt, Southern Wesleyan (6-16, 3-3) responded by winning nine of the next 12 points to tie the score at 10-10. However, the Warriors were never able to grab the lead away from Toccoa Falls (18-9) as the Eagles took the lead each of the four times after the score was tied. Still, the Warriors trailed just 23-24, but a kill by Rebekah Wilson off the Southern Wesleyan block ended the first set in favor of the Eagles.

The Warriors seized control of the second set from the outset, using six kills, three service aces, and several errors by the Eagles to grab a 16-5 lead. Toccoa Falls only won one point on their serve was Southern Wesleyan went on to win the set 25-10 and even the match at 1-1.

The third set was very similar to the previous set as the Warriors scored points in bunches and built a 16-6 lead. This time, Toccoa Falls were able to make it a little more interesting as they scored nine of the next 12 points and the ten point lead was down to four points. Southern Wesleyan ended the Eagles comeback by recording four straight kills by four different players and went on to win 25-17.

The Eagles were not going to let the Warriors jump out to a big lead in the fourth set, and instead, it was the Eagles who held an early 5-8 lead which forced a Southern Wesleyan timeout. Once again, the Warriors scored points in bunches, using four service aces and three kills to grab a 13-10 lead. The Eagles were able to pull with a single point on two occasions, but could never even the score and the match ended on a kill by Katelyn Barnes which gave Southern Wesleyan a 25-20 set four victory.

Barnes led the Warriors with 14 kills while hitting at an efficient .462 percentage. Lindsey Torgerson and Becky Alma provided offensive support as they each recorded seven kills. Alma and Emily Cothran set up the offense as they tallied 21 and 17 assists respectively. Southern Wesleyan had a huge advantage in service aces, totaling 18 while Toccoa Falls had just seven. Torgerson and Stephanie Alexander each had five service aces while Alma added four. Keni Abercrombie provided solid defense in the back row with 24 digs. The Eagles were led by Rebekah Wilson who had 12 kills. Mary Willis had 28 assists while Caroline Johnson and Bethany Slate had nine kills and 13 digs.

Southern Wesleyan will savor the victory for one night as they return to action on Thursday for a Southern States Athletic Conference match against Brenau University. The match at Tysinger Gymnasium is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.