By: Andrew Korba

CLEVELAND, OHIO -- Sophomore Nikolette Scruggs (Barberton) recorded career-highs in kills and digs to lead the Hiram College volleyball team in a 3-2 loss (17-25, 25-16, 19-25, 29-27, 15-10) at Case Western on Tuesday evening.

The Terriers drop to 18-4 on the season, while the Spartans push their record to 12-7.

Scruggs recorded 18 kills and 10 digs in the match.

Junior Lindsay Brewer (Barberton/Manchester) finished with a match-high 22 kills and senior Tierra Moore (Canton/Canton Soth) dished out 55 assists and recorded 12 digs, both of which were season-highs.

Senior Regina Zyle (Cleveland/Beaumont) finished with 26 digs and sophomore Laura Kelly (Massillon/Jackson) added 13 digs.

Case Western was led by Kayla Pfaff and Carolyn Bogart, who both finished with 13 kills.

In the final set, Hiram used an early 6-0 run to jump out to an 8-2 advantage.

But the Spartans stormed back, winning 13 of the next 15 points to take the set and match.

In the opening set, the Terriers used runs of 7-1 and 6-2 to pull away for a 25-17 victory.

The second set saw the Spartans use a 12-1 run to close out the set and win it 25-16.

The Terriers never trailed in Set 3 and a kill by Moore gave Hiram the set by a 25-19 score.

The fourth set was tight throughout and a kill by Scruggs knotted the things at 25-25. Brewer followed with a kill to put Hiram in front 26-25.

The Spartans would take the next point, but another kill by Brewer allowed the Terriers to jump in front 27-26. But Case Western would capture the finals three points to force the deciding set.

As a team, Hiram had 69 kills and hit .259 for the match, while the Spartans recorded 60 kills and had a hitting mark of .233.

Hiram will return to action on Saturday, with a home NCAC contest against Ohio Wesleyan at 1 p.m. The match will also be the Terriers' annual Dig Pink game.