JACKSON, Tennessee-Christian Brothers University junior outside hitter Emma Lenoir (Chattanooga, Tenn., East Hamilton HS) pounded a school-record 34 kills, the most in the nation in one match this season, to lead the Lady Bucs to a five-set win at Union Tuesday night in the Gulf South Conference opener for both squads.

CBU 3, Union 2 (18-25, 27-25, 25-14, 21-25, 15-8):
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Union (3-11, 0-1 GSC) hit .571 as they claimed a victory in the opening set. After a 13-12 Lady Bucs lead, Union outscored them 13-5 the rest of the way to claim a 25-18 win.
• CBU (6-6, 1-0) fell behind 12-8 and 16-11 in the second set before they stormed back in front with a six-point run featuring back-to-back aces by Lenoir. Neither team would lead by more than two points the rest of the set. The Lady Bulldogs served for set point ahead 24-23, but two kills by Lenoir sparked a 4-1 close for CBU to take a 27-25 win.
• The Lady Bucs exploded to early leads of 5-2, 7-3 and 15-6 in the third set, never allowing Union closer than four points again. After Union closed within 18-14, the Lady Bucs scored seven straight, including two aces by Joze Smith (Atoka, Tenn./Tipton-Rosemark Academy) and four kills from Lenoir, to win 25-14.
• In the fourth set it was the Lady Bulldogs who started strong, building leads of 5-2 and 7-3. After the teams traded leads in the middle of the set, CBU took a 16-14 lead on three straight Lenoir kills. The Lady Bulldogs answered with a three-point run, and they took the lead for good with a later four-point run on their way to a 25-21 win to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
• The fifth set was all CBU. A double-block by Miaya Smith (Memphis, Tenn./St. George's Independent School) and Abby Stutz (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Christian) started the set. After back-to-back Lenoir kills, another double-block by Stutz and Smith gave CBU a 4-0 lead. A Blythe Clausen (Hendersonville, Tenn./Pope John Paul II HS) ace and three more Lenoir kills extended the lead to 8-0. The Lady Bucs' lead eventually swelled to 10-0 on yet another Lenoir kill, and they led by as many as 12 points at 13-1 and 14-2. After the Lady Bulldogs scored six straight to pull within 14-8, Lenoir capped the match with yet another kill, her 34th of the night, to clinch the victory at 15-8.

KEY STATS:
• Lenoir hit .435, racking up 34 kills with 18 kills and three aces for a school-record 37 points.
• Miaya Smith (Memphis, Tenn./St. George's Independent School) pounded 13 kills with four blocks and four digs.
• Joze Smith (Atoka, Tenn./Tipton-Rosemark Academy) garnered 18 digs with two aces.
• Gennah Schoen (Portland, Ore./David Douglas HS) hit .294 with eight kills and eight digs.
• Mollie Wadsworth (Hernando, Miss./Northpoint Christian HS) added nine kills.
• Anna Graziosi (Lakeland, Tenn./St. Benedict HS) dished out 36 assists with seven digs.
• Alexa Henderson (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie HS) collected 18 assists with eight digs.

NOTABLE:
• Lenoir's 34 kills broke the school record of 32 set by Alexis Gillis (Corpus Christi, Texas/Carroll HS) Sept. 25, 2015 against Alabama Huntsville.
• Her 34 kills rank eighth in GSC history, and the top seven matches in kills were all recorded either previous to the rally-scoring format or when rally scoring was played to 30 points per set.
• Her 34 kills are a new NCAA season-high. Taylor Reiss of Southwest Minnesota State held the previous season-high with 33 kills against Regis Aug. 25. Lenoir's previous career-high of 29 had been tied for fifth in the nation this season.
• Lenoir's 37 points were also a school-record. Alexis Gillis (Corpus Christi, Texas/Carroll HS) held the previous record of 32, also set Sept. 25, 2015 against Alabama Huntsville.

WHAT'S NEXT:
The Lady Bucs play four of their next five matches at home, beginning Friday night at 7 p.m. when they host Alabama Huntsville.