DECATUR – East Central Community College held off a late push from Northeast Mississippi to earn a hard-fought 3-2 victory Wednesday night inside Founders Gymnasium on Community Bank Court.

The Warriors won the opening two sets 25-20 and 25-18 before the visiting Tigers stormed back to even the match with 25-22 and 25-23 wins in the third and fourth. ECCC (6-4, 4-3 MACCC) responded in the decisive fifth set, hitting a match-best .273 to close out the frame 15-12.

Freshman outside hitter Ainslee Copeland led the attack with 14 kills while adding a block solo and block assist for 16.5 points. Middle blocker Addison Vaughn chipped in eight kills and a team-high five block assists. Setter Riley Tosseng balanced the offense with 12 assists, nine digs, and nine points on nine kills.

Defensively, libero Emily Truan anchored the back row with a season-high 37 digs, while Landry Franks contributed 14. As a team, the Warriors collected 101 digs and 18 block assists. Anna Wojtczak directed the offense with 33 assists and added six digs.

Northeast (3-15, 1-5) was led by Eliza Whitenton, who hammered a match-high 22 kills, and Addy Hicks, who tallied 10 kills and 11 digs. The Tigers won the battle at the net with 55 total kills but were undone by 29 attack errors and 12 service errors.

ECCC posted nearly identical offensive numbers, finishing with 53 kills against 28 errors. The Warriors converted key points in crunch time, using Copeland's late swings and Truan's steady defense to secure the program's fourth conference win of the year.

East Central will be back in action Wednesday, Sept. 24, when the Warriors travel to Fulton to face the Itawamba Indians in MACCC play.