Boiling Springs, N.C. - Gardner-Webb erased a 2-0 match deficit to storm back and defeat the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville 3-2 in Big South action on Friday night in Paul Porter Arena in its annual "Dig Pink" match.

The Runnin' Bulldogs defeated Asheville 19-25, 14-25, 25-20, 28-26 and 15-12 to post its fourth 3-2 fifth-set win of the season, all of which have come in Big South Conference play.

Gardner-Webb improved to 13-11 overall and 4-2 in the Big South, as its 13 wins is the most for a Runnin' Bulldog team in a single season since the 2007 team registered 14 total wins on the year.

The loss drops the Asheville Bulldogs to 13-9 and 3-3 in the Big South, as the two teams split its regular season series.

GWU saw a number of milestones reached in the 3-2 win, as senior Erin Anderson, who led the way with 16 kills, tallied 10 digs to record her 500th career dig, while fellow senior Emily Holte, who chipped in with nine kills and 16 digs, posted four block assists and two solo blocks on the night to reach the 100 mark for her career.

For the third straight match, libero Anna Pashkova totaled over 30 digs, as the sophomore tied her career-high with 38 digs, while freshman Brianna Starr and sophomore Tyra Montour added 15 and 10 kills apiece, respectively, in the win.

Not to be outdone, senior middle blocker Amanda Murphy posted eight kills, on a .438 attack percentage, and combined with Montour to register two solo blocks and six block assists in the 3-2 victory.

For Asheville, Christine Lakatos recorded a match-high 19 kills, to go along with her 10 digs, while Meredith Foster (12), Shelby Erickson (11) and Anna Moore (10) all spiked double digit kills in the loss. Libero Rachel Wells picked up 35 digs, while setter Katie Davis dished out 53 assists and posted 10 digs over the five set match.

The Runnin' Bulldogs got off to a slow start to start the match, as Asheville used a 5-0 run to take a 10-7 lead over the home team and force an early timeout in the first set.

Gardner-Webb responded with a run of its own out of the break, as three straight kills from freshman Taylor Lillard capped off a 5-1 run by the home team who retook the lead at 12-11.

However, the game of runs continued as the Asheville Bulldogs countered with a 9-4 run, capped off by kills from Erickson and a GWU error, to pull back out in front by four at 20-16.

Following a second GWU timeout, the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville took advantage of a Runnin' Bulldog error and then used spikes from both Erickson and Moore to push its lead out to seven at 23-16 on its way to a 25-19 first set win.

In the second set, the momentum was clearly on the Asheville Bulldogs' side, as a kill by Davis put the visitors in front by four at 6-2 early in the frame.

GWU battled back with a kill from Montour and a Holte service ace to cut the Asheville lead to one at 6-5, yet back-to-back Runnin' Bulldog attack errors jump stared a 12-5 by the visiting team who took advantage of two more GWU errors to take an eight point lead at 18-10.

The home team looked to regroup; yet it was too little too late, as Asheville finished the set out on a 7-4 run to take the second set in dominating fashion at 25-14.

Despite being down 2-0 in the match, Gardner-Webb refused to roll over and play dead, but rather erased an early UNC Asheville lead in the third set to take a 12-9 lead on a block by Holte and Montour.

The home standing 'Dogs never looked back, as kills from Holte, Montour and Anderson over the next several rallies pushed the home team's lead out to six at 19-13 and forced an Asheville timeout.

A 4-1 run by the Asheville Bulldogs out of the break cut the GWU lead to three at 20-17, yet did not slow down the Runnin' Bulldogs' attack, as Starr tallied three kills down the stretch for the home team to lead GWU to a 25-20 third set win.

The fourth set was tight throughout, as GWU led off the game with a kill from Anderson and ran out to a 4-1 lead, only to see Asheville benefit from six Runnin' Bulldog errors over the next several plays to take an 11-7 lead over the home team.

Three kills over the next four rallies from GWU's Anderson got the home team back into the set at 12-10, as the rally forced UNC Asheville to use its first timeout of the set.

After the break, Asheville responded with a 5-4 run to increase its lead to three at 17-14 on a GWU service error, before the Runnin' Bulldogs clawed its way back to tie the score at 18-18 on back-to-back kills from Starr.

The freshman then spiked two more kills in a row, which extended her run to four straight kills, to give the home team a 20-18 lead.

The two teams then went back-and forth over the next several rallies with Gardner-Webb holding on to a slight one point lead at 20-19, 21-20 and 22-21 until a second consecutive kill by Anderson propelled the Runnin' Bulldogs to a two point lead at 23-21.

After another Anderson kill, as she had eight total for the set, gave the home team set point, Asheville answered with back-to-back points to tie the set up at 24-24.

Back-and-forth the teams went until an Asheville attack error and a kill from Montour gave the home team a 28-26 set win and tied the match up at 2-2 heading into the fifth and decisive set.

GWU picked up two straight kills from Murphy to take a 4-0 lead to start the fifth and final set, while kills from Anderson and Holte kept the home team out in front at 8-4.

After switching sides, the Bulldogs of Asheville picked up three straight points to cut the GWU lead back to one at 8-7 when a kill from Starr stopped the run and put the Runnin' Bulldogs in front by two at 9-7.

Asheville would again cut the lead to a single point at 9-8 and then again at 10-9 before a kill from Lakatos tied the set up at 10-10.

Over the final few plays it was all GWU, as down the stretch the Runnin' Bulldogs got kills from Murphy and Anderson, and blocks from Holte and Murphy to hold on for the 15-12 fifth set win and complete the 3-2 come from behind match victory.

Gardner-Webb totaled 11.0 blocks on the night as a team compared to the Bulldogs 7.0 team blocks, while Asheville had a slight advantage in team attack percentage at .208 to .167.

Gardner-Webb (13-11, 4-2 Big South) will return to action next week, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will hit the road for back-to-back Big South matches at Charleston Southern (Oct. 24) and at Coastal Carolina (Oct. 25). UNC Asheville (13-9, 3-3 Big South) will also hit the road for back-to-back bouts at Charleston Southern (Oct. 25) and Coastal Carolina (Oct. 26) next week.

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